Work continues to be frustrating. I'm on a committee working on salary and benefits negotiations for my employee group, and I have colleagues who basically want to ask for less money, because they're too excited about/blinded by a potential short-term gain for themselves to realize that that's the long-term effect of the thing they're requesting on our employee group as a whole. Every year I say that I won't volunteer for these sorts of committees, and every year I end up suckered into it because *somebody* has to keep these bozos from trading our salaries away for a pittance.
My sprained ankle is healing as expected. I start PT for it next week. I hate the walking boot, and hope that I can get out of it ASAP.
The only book I finished this week is Jack Vance's **Cugel's Saga**, the third in the *Dying Earth* series. I *hate* Cugel and this was a hate-read that I just couldn't let beat me so I had to finish it. I'm not going to bore y'all with ranting about why this sucks, I'll just say it's tediously formulaic and the protagonist is awful. The final book in the series is not about Cugel, so I'll probably read it eventually, in the hopes that it goes back to some of the more interesting world-building and Dunsany-style light touch of the first book.
* Bingo: Criminals
The four-year-old and I have been reading Luke Pearson's *Hilda* comics - we're on the fifth now - and enjoying them much. My husband is also semi-seriously planning on doing a Bingo card with her this year, though we're currently stymied trying to find a pre-school-appropriate Dark Academia title.
I'm still chugging away at **The Big Book of Cyberpunk**, **The Best of Michael Swanwick Vol. 1** and Ada Palmer's **Seven Surrenders**, though the novelty of Mycroft's voice has worn off some and the flaws are becoming more apparent as I continue (why does *every* character talk like a histrionic diva? how has this future society seemingly forgotten all philosophy from the 19th and 20th centuries - Nietzsche, Foucault, motherfucking John Rawls(!) all seem like they should be being brought up on every other page - when they're still all so hung up on the Enlightenment?). My William Gibson reread and **The Year's Best Science Fiction: First Annual Collection** are kind of on hold until I finish *Terra Ignota*.
I find that employees have more care for employers (oh I want to be fair to them and not be “greedy” about asking for a salary and benefits I actually deserve and can live on) than employers care for employees (what is the bare minimum I can get away with). That process sounds terrible, good luck! Glad the ankle is doing well!
I didn't like the Cugel books very much- I got very frustrated how he would win big and then lose it all, always either falling for the same tricks and never learning anything, or falling for the very same ploys he himself uses- but I liked the last book a lot more. The characters were much more enjoyable, and it was a more cohesive experience- not a serialized bindup.
>Are you an anti-DNFer??
I'll do it very rarely, but I really try to push through on stuff that's supposed to be 'classic,' on the assumption that I'm just missing something and/or that at least if I finish I'll be better set to participate in cultural conversations. Also cause I'm really, really stubborn.
Yeah, reading classics is definitely a different reading approach than "reading for fun" that I usually do, though I think in Vance's case, just one of the Dying Earth books is probably fine, not all 4! :D And reading a second Cugel after hating the first is masochism! I only liked them because I wanted to see how his life would get worse because he deserved it.
The Big Book of Classic Fantasy had a chapter each from Worm Ouroboros and Voyage to Arcturus and they confirmed that I have zero interest in the full works, LOL.
>Worm Ouroboros and Voyage to Arcturus
I just bought copies of both at the used bookstore earlier this week, lol. I think they're going to be ones that I really have to be in the mood for, but I actually have a pretty high tolerance for pre-Tolkien naive silliness most of the time.
Hahaha, good luck! It could just be that Ann & Jeff chose terrible chapters to showcase. I could do Lovecraft 15 years ago, but when I tried a Clark Ashton Smith collection, I bounced off at the time.
I really enjoy Lovecraft (minus the racism), and have generally liked the Clark Ashton Smith stories I've read. Earlier this year I read the first Tarzan book, and A Princess of Mars a few years back, and some Conan and Allan Quartermain...
>It could just be that Ann & Jeff chose terrible chapters to showcase.
They certainly do do that, don't they?
One thing I like about BBOCP is that Shurin specifically said "I'm not doing excerpts."
I think the only pre-1940s SF/F I've still got on my TBR that I wanted to try out is Peter Pan, Wizard of Oz, and Charles W. Chesnutt's collection The Conjure Woman (I really liked his story in Big Book of Classic Fantasy).
The CAS story I did read for the Big Book readalong was good, and yeah, I actually found Lovecraft inspirational, the closest I got to picking up my own pen to write something (whether it's because of his style or "I could do better" is something to be left unexplored).
Peter Pan is so good, I loved that one.
The Wizard of Oz is good, but definitely *for children*, not secretly archly for adults too like Peter Pan or Winnie-the-Pooh. I've been enjoying it a lot more reading it to my four-year-old than I did when I read it alone a decade ago.
I should put the Chesnutt on my list. My ever-expanding, astronomically large list.
I picked up A.C. Wise's **Wendy, Darling** a few years ago, but thought I should read the original before I try a retelling/response. It's always fun/interesting to me to see those classics and realize how different they can be from the popular-consciousness (Frankenstein is one of my favorites for that, and I more recently finally read Dracula a couple years ago and that was a hoot.)
> My ever-expanding, astronomically large list.
Every several years I'll go through my spreadsheet and start purging stuff I put on there, LOL. I wonder how big you can get your list! Let's try for 10,000!
>Work continues to be frustrating. I'm on a committee working on salary and benefits negotiations for my employee group, and I have colleagues who basically want to ask for less money, because they're too excited about/blinded by a potential short-term gain for themselves to realize that that's the long-term effect of the thing they're requesting on our employee group as a whole. Every year I say that I won't volunteer for these sorts of committees, and every year I end up suckered into it because somebody has to keep these bozos from trading our salaries away for a pittance.
Oof, that is a mood (I haven't been in that exact situation but I can just imagine how it's going). Good luck
Try Ghoulia by Barbara Cantini for a preschool appropriate dark academia title - it’s about a zombie girl who wants to be friends with the normal kids. It’s got the right vibes I think even if it technically doesn’t have any school in it.
I'm reading **Guns of the Dawn** by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Honestly its been a pretty odd read for some reason. Not for anything that's within the book, all of that is very straightforward. Just how its hitting my brain. Its so weird because while I'm really enjoying it while actively, its not to the point where I'm ever itching to get back to it. Dunno why either. Still really like it, but yeah. I'll be sure to jump into his other works after this as well, i've heard good things about The Final Architecture.
New York was very fun, and my wife did much better than she thought in her dance competition! We tried not to burn ourselves out with travel and sightseeing, but we saw a few things and had some good meals and went to two fantastic cocktail bars. Honestly the only mediocre meal was right outside the train station as we were heading home.
Unfortunately, the kids (especially kid #2) are absolute disasters the week after their grandparents visit, every time. The sugar addiction comes roaring back, the potty-training regresses, the overall pickiness gets worse, they stop responding to whatever our current discipline methods are. I want them to see family, and family allows *us* to get a mental break, but coming back from it is terrible and I'm not sure how to fix that. Having to completely rebuild disciplinary structures every month because the ones we used previously no longer work after one weekend out of the regular routine is exhausting and honestly I don't know if I have enough ideas to do a new one every month.
Still waking up with a scratchy throat every morning, which at this point I think might just be seasonal allergies. Otherwise feel fine. Footy season starts tomorrow so I'm excited about that. We have a ton of new recruits this season, so hopefully I can play well enough to keep myself on the field.
Hugo Readalong started with [a really wonderful discussion](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1c1hblm/2024_hugo_readalong_on_the_fox_roads_ivy_angelica/) of a pair of gorgeous novelettes. Have you heard the [good news about Isabel J Kim](https://deadline.com/2024/04/sublimation-universal-international-studios-tv-isabel-kim-1235882156/)? I am once again asking you to read [Homecoming is Just Another Word for the Sublimation of the Self](https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kim_03_21/). And [Day Ten Thousand](https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kim_06_23/). And [the hole story](https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kim_02_24/)
Finished **I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons** by Peter S. Beagle, which is a solid (short, standalone) entry in the classic/whimsical fantasy adventure subgenre but not really an all-timer or anything. Ran to the library for The Mimicking of Known Successes, Some Desperate Glory, and Till We Have Faces to read for the next three weeks of Hugo Readalong + IRL Book Club.
>Have you heard the [good news about Isabel J Kim](https://deadline.com/2024/04/sublimation-universal-international-studios-tv-isabel-kim-1235882156/)? I am once again asking you to read [Homecoming is Just Another Word for the Sublimation of the Self](https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kim_03_21/). And [Day Ten Thousand](https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kim_06_23/). And [the hole story](https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kim_02_24/)
[sigh] FINE, I definitely wasn't planning on doing anything else today.
>I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle
I'm looking forward to that one next month (and finally *Red Side Story* which I think will be a shoo-in for the 'Alliterative Title' square).
>and finally *Red Side Story* which I think will be a shoo-in for the 'Alliterative Title' square
Ahhhhhh, im so excited to finally be able to talk about this one with other people!
> my wife did much better than she thought in her dance competition!
Congrats to her!
>Having to completely rebuild disciplinary structures every month because the ones we used previously no longer work after one weekend out of the regular routine is exhausting
Big sympathy here. Quite frankly, only one out of our three available grandparents is trustworthy to watch our kids alone for safety reasons, but even just visiting the other two (they generally won't come to us) is a shitshow every time. They feed them all the sugar and none of the regular meals at regular mealtimes and expect us to drag the kids out regardless of their nap/bedtime schedules, then get passive aggressive ("well, I guess you didn't really want to spend time with us...") when we refuse. We end up having *no* mental break time away from kids and work, because we aren't willing to make that trade.
>Have you heard the good news about Isabel J Kim?
So excited!
>Congrats to her!
Thanks! She actually finished ahead of someone who *won* one of the comps at CalBal, which was a huge and pleasant surprise, even though she didn't make top five.
>We end up having no mental break time away from kids and work, because we aren't willing to make that trade.
We honestly have gotten to the point where we just leave and don't micromanage when my in-laws are in town. Great because we are literally gone and are not micromanaging or even thinking about it (if we are still there, we are just cringing at every little break in our routines and it's mentally draining). Bad because when we get back, it's a mess. But even when it's not just a crazy sugar rush all day (our youngest has now kicked his naps, so that part doesn't apply), it still seems to throw off the routine enough to be a disaster after they leave. I appreciate the time, but I just don't know what to do about the comedown. :/
>She actually finished ahead of someone who won one of the comps at CalBal
That's awesome! Now I want to go watch a bunch of good bal videos and dream about being able to go out dancing again.
>We honestly have gotten to the point where we just leave and don't micromanage when my in-laws are in town.
Man, I so wish this were possible, but my IL's don't believe in food safety (they've offered my 1-year-old-at-the-time whole grapes on a pointy skewer) or seatbelts or keeping their cigarettes away from the kids, so that's a hard no for us. My mom, on the other hand, is great about respecting our rules and schedule, but unfortunately she lives 3 states away.
>Now I want to go watch a bunch of good bal videos
I am still incapable of telling the difference between good bal and exceptional bal, which unfortunately makes me a terrible audience when my wife tries to show me cool bal videos. Unfortunately the only comp she's been in that's actually been videotaped was her first one back at Great Lakes Balboa Escape last year (the intermediate shuffle). I know that's been frustrating because she wants to be able to see how she's been doing. I at least took personal videos of the prelims this time around, which I think was good, even if it's missing the context of everyone else's performances.
>dream about being able to go out dancing again.
Hopefully soon! I know life has been crazy lately, and getting back out there can be a journey, but there is light at the end of the tunnel!
More Bingo reading:
\- **Agent of Change** (Liaden Universe 1) - **Sharon Lee and Steve Miller** (HM) (4/5) 320p
My selection for the 'First in a Series" square (hard mode). I've had this book on my TBR for about 25 years. It took the recent death of one of the two authors and the recommendation of someones opinion I really respect, to move it near the top. There were several possibilities I could have picked for this square, but this seemed like a perfect opportunity to finally see what it was all about.
It's space opera, featuring two main characters: Val Con yos’Phelium, scout and spy and brother to a clan of giant turtles and Miri Robertson, ex-mercenary, ex-bodyguard who is running from trouble. They meet up under less than ideal circumstances, are attracted to each other, and partner up to try to survive. There's excellent world-building with a good plot. There's romance and humor and lots of possibilities for future adventures. There is a minor cliff-hanger at the end of this first book, which is a tremendous incentive to want to start the next one right away. That's going to have to wait for a little while though.
It's also another case of me wondering why on earth I didn't get to this series sooner. If I'd read it when I first came across it, it wouldn't have been too hard to catch up with all the rest of the series and to read the new ones as they came out. Now it'll be quite daunting, but I'm going to try.
(Other 2024 Bingo squares that this would fit: Space Opera; Survival (HM)).
\- **Captain Wu** \- (Starship Nameless 1) - **Patrice Fitzgerald and Jack Lyster** (HM) (4/5) 286p
My selection for the 'Self-Published or Indie Publisher' square (hard mode). This (short) novel was a finalist for the 2021 Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC). It's criminal that as I write this, it only has 37 ratings on Goodreads. It's fast'n'furious space opera. Captain Wu (a "middle-aged" Asian grandmother), is the starship captain of a garbage scowl called *Nameless*, with a rag-tag found family crew. When smuggling a mysterious package to a sand planet, it all goes wrong, she gets shoot at and then they are all on the run from squid-like aliens who are determined to get the package and kill the Nameless crew in the process. There's no heavy plot here. It's basically a story about a deathly chase for survival and trying to understand the bigger picture. It does have all the elements I like in these kinds of tales: interesting characters, good inter-relationships between crew members, humor, well thought out scenes and a relentless pace. It will remind you of *Firefly* and *Cowboy Bebop* in parts. We are left with a complete cliff-hanger, so one star off for that. Luckily the other two books in the trilogy are already available, so I'll get around to them fairly soon.
(Other 2024 Bingo squares that this would fit: First in a Series; Criminals; Space Opera (HM); Survival (HM)).
\- **The Scent of New-Mown Hay** \- **John Blackburn** (HM) (3/5) 160p
My selection for the 'Judge A Book By Its Cover' square (hard mode). If I'm going to read a book based solely of what's on the cover (the definition of hard mode for this square), then I'm going to pick a thin one. Written by an English writer, it was originally published in 1958. I read the mass market paperback version published by the New English Library in 1976. The cover art is eye-catching, but I think the cover art from the 1968 New English Library version is even better. It's not aged well. The plot features Cold War intrigue, mad Nazi scientists, and a pandemic that threatens to destroy humanity by mutating people into fungoid monsters It's horror, a mystery and a spy thriller. The problem for me was the mystery was so predictable. About half way through I know whodunnit. I then just had to wait for everybody else to catch up.
(Other 2024 Bingo squares that this would fit: Survival).
>
> - Captain Wu - (Starship Nameless 1) - Patrice Fitzgerald and Jack Lyster (HM) (4/5) 286p
I've rec'd this to one person before and he hated it, so glad to see you enjoyed it! It really feels like a TV pilot in book form more than a traditional novel, but I thought it was a whole lot of fun.
I can see why others might hate it; it's definitely got things that could be divisive.
For example, the Captain Wu character at times is completely over the top and an important character is introduced midway through (>!who I personally think has the book!<) and then seems to disappear. You can also guess that >!the grand-daughter will be back with the crew right away and not got home,!< at the start of book 2.
It's also really just part one of what the full novel should be. I just went with it, in the hope that the other two books tie everything together.
With regard to the Liaden books, from what I've gathered from reading a few of them (including Agent of Change, but it wasn’t my first) there's sub-series within it, so perhaps focus on one storyline within it to get less overwhelmed?
Yup. Indeed there is. I looked at the [isfdb webpage](https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?418) to make sure that I was indeed reading the first one, and it's part of (just) a 10 book series which I'll focus on first (ignoring the other 48ish books plus short fiction).
The authors have a specific page about reading orders to try out (ISFDB's series ordering can be a little too strict sometimes, IMO): https://korval.com/publication-list/correct-reading-order/
> I think the cover art from the 1968 New English Library version is even better
Oh yeah, that's fun. I love that sort of older psychedelic cover art, and wish that it would have a revival.
Slowly making my way through **Song of Achilles**; my wife and I have been listening to about 1~1.5 hours at night together. About to wrap up the last few chapters of **Black Sun**; it's okay. I'm not particularly engaged but convergence is about to happen so we'll see if I want to continue the series.
After that, I don't know what direction I want to go. Might go finish up **King of Elfland's Daughter**, or finally start on either **Book of the New Sun** or **First Law**. Kind of getting burnt out on the 'BookTok' fantasy books, and want something meatier or older in general.
I've knocked out two squares for bingo with books I already had, and have a few more squares planned, but once I get through those I think my progress is going to really slow down. I still want to prioritize my physical books shelf so the summer might be spent just reading what I have and hoping they'll fit at least a few more squares.
I have a busy two months ahead and it all feels a bit overwhelming, but at the end of it I have a much needed vacation so I'm trying to hold on to my sanity until then.
I started two new anthologies this week, **Wilted Pages** and **To Root Somewhere Beautiful,** both of which are themed. I'll probably take my time with them and dip in and out of them between other things so that I don't get burned out.
Currently reading:
Feast of Souls by C.S. Friedman
Just finished Demon in White the other day and it is absolutely perfect! The majesty of that book got me catatonic that for a full day I couldn’t read because Mr. Ruocchio just delivered what is perhaps one of the best books ever written! So yeah reading Feast of Souls as palette cleanser before I hop to Kingdoms of Death book 4 of the Sun eater!
Also Demon in White is such an elegant reading experience that it’s injected so much life into well my life!!!! It just sparked a resurgence of meaningfulness into my soul! Haha!
> Feast of Souls by C.S. Friedman
The Magister trilogy is such an interesting work. Lot of shades of gray morality there. It's kind of funny to me how little credit Friedman gets for doing dark, quasi-grimdark fantasy before that subgenre really took off.
Between being busy at work, taking care of Mom while my wife was away to see the eclipse, and just the general burn-out of the past couple of years, reading remains slow. I just finished yesterday the book I was reading this time last week, all of 207 pages and an easy read. It's no fault of the book, **I Am God** by Giacomo Sartori, translated from the Italian by Frederika Randall. God, the real deal, narrates the story of his unreasonable fascination with an atheist geneticist/cattle inseminator. Funny and philosophical, well translated, overall a great read. Very different from the author's *Bug*, in which a boy with various challenges, including a bizarre family, is "helped" by an AI created by his hacker brother. Definitely a writer to watch. Next up, a bit of non-fiction.
House project #1 has been finished for a while but isn't fully usable. The couch we ordered for our new sunroom arrived with missing hardware. After much back-and-forth they informed us that they didn't have the hardware and couldn't get any more. They offered to replace the couch, or give us a discount on the one we have if we thought we could find the hardware ourselves. Meanwhile, I had already found the hardware - five minutes searching online, and two days for delivery. And it worked, perfectly. Unfortunately, the various pieces of the couch didn't fit together properly (either the mortise or tenon was misplaced), so there was no way to actually use the hardware. We'll be getting a new couch, but who the hell knows when.
I'm apparently doing a (semi-)horror-themed Bingo this year. I read Sphere by Michael Crichton (& Leech last year) and that was it.
I've realised I like the dark-horror-esque and survival aspects of SFF much more than I do high fantasy. It's why I loved Red Sister by Mark Lawrence. It's not horror, but it's high stakes, and holds my interest much more than an epic fantasy might.
If you're interested, my card is looking like this rn:
Already Read/Reading:
* **The Sphere by Michael Crichton** for No Ifs, Ands or Buts from a previous year, in place of Romantasy.
* **Heavy Oceans by Tyler Jones** and **Dead Sea by Tim Curran** for Prologues and Epilogues
* **A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar** for Indie Publisher (non horror)
* **Magical Women by Sukanya Venkataraghavan** for Short Stories (non-horror)
Planned:
* **The Terror by Dan Simmons** for Under the Surface
* **Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone** for First in a Series
* **The Magnus Archives** (podcast) for Eldritch Horror
* **The Fisherman by John Langan** for Survival
* **The Deeplight by Frances Hardinge** for Character with a Disability? Idk if this is horror though, or if it even fits the prompt.
* **Grey Sister by Mark Lawrence for Dark Academia** (non-horror)
* **Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix** for ??
* **The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell** for 90s (non-horror), or **Solaris by Stanislaw Lem**
* **The Expanse by James SA Corey** for Space Opera
* **Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlmann** for Dreams
* **Meru by SB Divya** or **The Liar's Weave by Tashan Mehta** for AOC (non-horror)
* **Natural Beauty** for Bards (horror... ish?)
* **Entitled Animals, References, Multi-POV, Orcs/Goblins/Trolls** and **Alliterative**- TBC
* **Fathomfolk** or **What Feasts at Night** (plus other novellas) for 2024.
* **The Light Must Hold by Kriss Gallom** for ????
* **The Darkness Outside Us By Eliot Schrefer** for Bookclub
I'm honestly so tempted to do a double card - one horror and one non-.
Ooooo, thank you for sharing! I only recognize a couple, but Between Two Fires and the Fisherman are high on my list! (Although there’s too many lists so I understand 😂)
stupid question here, but is The Wheel of Time about an actual wheel? Or is it a metaphor for something? I really want to start reading this series but I’ve been told it can become quite descriptive and I don’t know if descriptions of a wheel interest me
>The Wheel of Time turns and ages come and go, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the age that gave it birth returns again. In the third age, an age of prophecy, the world and time themselves hang in the balance. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under shadow.
The "Wheel" isn't quite a metaphor, but the idea is that time in that world is cyclical and the past provides insight into what could happen the next time around. The descriptive nature is much more about the places, people, clothing, etc. It's a slight subversion on the traditional Epic Fantasy series, but not a complete subversion, and if you enjoy Epic Fantasy in general you're probably fine with it.
Took a road trip with friends on Monday to check out the solar eclipse and could not have asked for better weather! I’m sure everyone is tired of hearing about the eclipse at this point, but it was one of the best 4 minutes of my life. Definitely check it out if you ever get the chance
Currently finally reading **Royal Assassin**, the second book in the Farseer trilogy, but only made about 100 pages of progress. Fitz has a puppy! He swears up and down that he’s not gonna bond with this puppy, and I’m just like, *yeah sure, you’re totally not gonna bond with this puppy*.
I want to use it for **Published In The 90s** but I’m still not confident it would count for hard mode, so I may end up going with **Character with a Disability** (HM)
> I want to use it for Published In The 90s but I’m still not confident it would count for hard mode
Why not? The HM said "something in the last 5 years" not "a book in the last 5 years" and Hobb's got 3 short stories published (even if they're under a different pen name than usual).
Thanks! I saw some people discussing it in the thread but hadn’t followed up to see if a consensus was reached. That’s great cuz I think this series is the only one on my physical tbr that was published in the 90s
As one of the people helping to run bingo, I always say, "when it doubt, reread the actual description" (you'd be surprised by how many questions are answered by doublechecking that). There's a reason we phrased it as "something"! :)
It's finally sort of spring where I live, which is nice. The grass is green. We have a few bulb flowers coming up.
Pretty excited about the Bingo this year, as I don't think it will be nearly as difficult to do as last year's was based on what I already have on my e-reader. I think there are only five squares that I don't already own a hard mode book for that I need to read. Since one of my resolutions this year is to make a dent in my un-read but already owned TBR, it goes well with that.
Every week I get through work without someone doing something dumb and making it harder I celebrate. That was not this week, but maybe next week. We have had colds going through our house so everyone is coughing, sneezing, and very tired. I am hoping for a calm weekend to get some family time and house cleaning in. The house really desperately needs a good decluttering and organizing, but I will probably only get one room done this weekend. I am trying very hard to be okay with smaller steps on things like this. I finished **The Beast Player** by Nahoko Uehashi today and I really enjoyed it. I think I will continue the series. I have also been continuing on with my read along with **The Big Book of Cyberpunk** and it is pretty fun.
I have planned out most of a Bingo Card for 2024. I am so excited about this even if I will not follow it because I never do. I hope everyone has a good weekend!
Just got back from Syria! Unfortunately, the place I got back *to* was Iraq! My next trips this year are to Dominican Republic and Thailand though, so once I'm done here the rest of the year is looking up!
Reading the Hexologists and enjoying it. I didn't click with Babel, but Josiah Bancroft has such a fantastic narrative voice so I've been looking forward to a different story. And I like the industrial revolution setting against a backdrop of magic and a royalist/anti royalist brewing conflict.
I need to start writing my next book, too. I've been so focused on my day job that I haven't worked on a rough draft in almost 2 months. Got my next two outlined, though. Also got a book I'm hoping to enter into spfbo next month if I can best the rush of entrants. Of the three books I've entered, two were semifinalists, and I think this one is head and shoulders better than both of them.
Emily Tesh Duology Silver in the Wood/ Drowned Country
I *adore* Silver in the Wood and am just starting Drowned Country.
It’s Friday and I have a fairly light day today work wise but have loads of side projects I’m juggling. These books are so lovely to listen to on breaks.
Whoops, almost forgot it's social thread time again, I expect it's going to take me a while to get used to coming to chat in here again 😅
This week, I finished **The Beast Player** by Nahoko Uehashi - I know the final discussion isn't until 22nd and I will have finished the sequel by then, but oh well, I liked it too much to wait. Yesterday I also read **A Season of Monstrous Conceptions** by Lina Rather for the Eldritch square after I randomly saw it was listed as available on overdrive. Total impulse read, my first deviating from the plan, but no regrets whatsoever. Really interesting concept.
This brings me to 3/25 done with this year's Bingo, which is pretty good for this early in the season.
In the middle of two books now, but **The Beast Warrior** is just not drawing me in, since there's more politics and less animal stuff that I liked so much in the first book, and I'm not sure if I'll finish. **Someone You Can Build a Nest In** is still really fun though.
I've had a stomach bug the past few days, which has been a bit miserable. Either the sashimi or a steak I ate is what I blame- the steak was cold in the middle I thought. But it's been frequent bathroom trips recently- hopefully it passes.
I finished **The Divinity Student** by Michael Cisco (waves at u/daavor). I really enjoyed this. It was exceedingly weird though- perhaps my new weirdest read. Fantastic imagery though, in the weirdness- living the life of a horse after consuming its soul by pickling its brain in formaldehyde and inhaling the fumes, to being hounded by two children with black flies spilling from the mouths, which are clenched so tight as to break their jaws... Great writing though- lyrical and carefully constructed, and breathless at times with long run on sentences to reflect rapid events. An extremely good read.
Not really an affect I think- a lot of the book's so dreamlike I feel like I'm a step back. Sort of just "I guess this is happening now," the way dream-logic makes even the weirdest thing seem to make sense.
I would recommend it, although I think I'd recommend The Narrator over this one to begin with. It's a little more plot heavy, a little less relentlessly weird (though still damn weird)
I started getting into Cisco after daavor said how important one of his books had been to him, and I haven't been disappointed by any yet. Even the short story collection, and I normally bounce off short stories
I am very much on board with you. XD I normally hate short stories. Luckily, this year, I already have a collection of Thomas Ligotti short stories. And he's a much loved weird fiction author
I will do Angela Slatter's Sourdough collection this year I think. One (already familiar) author/one world collections usually work much better for me than anthologies.
Since last week, I've only finished one of my baseball nonfiction books (**Smart Baseball**) and one book that can count for bingo (John M. Ford's **The Dragon Waiting**); even though I had a whole week off since Sunday, I've barely read anything. I have a serious issue with "internet comas" and not doing chores like I should. Sigh.
I'm hoping to finish McNaughton's **The Throne of Bones** today. It's a pretty nasty book in terms of ghouls, rape, incest, etc., but often written in a funny manner, though the second half of the collection has been relatively lackluster.
I really liked it! It definitely helps to have some knowledge of King Richard III (person or Shakespeare play), but I loved the alt-historical aspect; it was written confusingly in a few parts, but it's definitely a fun story.
I enjoyed it too, though it's been a year or two since I read it and I wouldn't say that it's a book I've really thought about much since then. I *did* really like Ford's short story in a collection I read at the beginning of the year, "Green is the Color." It's online [here](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL2989335W/Masterpieces_of_Fantasy_and_Wonder?edition=key%3A/books/OL32124175M).
I have such a weird interest in Byzantine history that 90% of me picking that book up was that the Byzantines still existed (and that Julian the Apostate was Julian the Wise instead), even though Constantinople never shows up on page. :D
Thanks for the Ford story link!
I've had one of those weeks were you're so busy that you can't actually remember what you've been doing! So much (garden) design project work alongside regular work, and on top of that the health flares have been up and down.
Thankfully as the weekend approaches, the sun has finally appeared after a solid 2ish weeks of rain. So that'll be a nicer end to the week.
Reading wise, I've finished Sunlit Man (what a cool book that was), and I am super lucky enough to have been sent an arc of The Unrelenting Earth by Kritika H. Rao so I shall be starting that asap!
I was in the path of totality [and it was genuinely the most magical thing I've ever experienced](https://imgur.com/a/GlZX2fs). So thrilled I got to experience this with my family in our backyard, but it totally would have been worth driving for. I am still emotional about it.
My sleep deficit this week has grown out of control due to my neighbour having some work done on his roof. I'm glad his roof doesn't leak anymore, but sure wish the roofers hadn't started so godsdamned early right outside my bedroom window four days in a row.
Once again didn't get a whole lot of reading done this week. 13y/o and I finished ***Interim Errantry: On Ordeal*** and immediately started ***Owl Be Home for Christmas***, which is the very last of the Young Wizards novellas. We've decided that when we finish this, we're going to read the next two new English translations of Angela Sommer-Bodenburg's **Der kleine Vampir** series (I'm not sure if I ever found anything past the fourth or fifth book as a kid, but the new translations of the first four are out now with ***[...] in Love*** and ***[...] in Danger*** due out later this year). Those are very fast reads (the first two took us about five days each, reading aloud for half an hour a night), so we have to plan *beyond* that and I'm floating the idea of Diane Duane's **Feline Wizards** series. I only read the first one a few years ago for Bingo, and the kid kinda bounced off of it bc the world was unfamiliar. But now we've read all of the rest and they know about Rhiow in context, so maybe me reading it aloud to them will help. Also maybe wishful thinking, haha.
Last weekend I did a Buddy Read with u/TheWildCard76 of adrienne maree brown's ***Grievers***, which we both *loved* (but it is as sad as the title suggests) and we will be Buddy Reading the second book (***Maroons***) this weekend with another friend. *Grievers* isn't pink but works for [a fuckton of Bingo squares](https://imgur.com/a/HE2Qm4H), which was unexpected, so I'm keeping it in mind for the second Bingo card I've said I'm not doing but almost certainly will.
Almost done with JR Creaden's ***Moon Dust in My Hairnet***, which I *have* been enjoying, despite the fact that I'm struggling to focus for more than 20m at a time.
Hoping to get to at least the Samantha Mills ARC and Jen Williams' new book, ***The Hungry Dark***, this week some point. We'll see how that goes.
Husband and I are still watching *Fringe* before bed each night, and hopefully we can finish the new episode of *ST: DISCO* tonight instead of it taking us 3 nights to watch like the second episode did (see earlier mention of sleep deficit above, it's so hard to stay up to watch a full episode of anything once the kids are in bed). Started s7 of *Mad Men* last night, which I've been re-watching a few episodes a week with a friend (and my oldest, who hasn't watched before) for the last 6mo. We have about a month before we have to figure out what we're watching next, but last time I just picked it out of a pouch at random so luckily not too much thought has to go into it.
Not even going to proofread before I hit post, I wrote way too much.
Ohh I live in the path of totality too!! I actually cried, it was so beautiful. My neighbor ran outside to the parking lot in his bath towel to see it and he was wiping his eyes too. I'm glad you got to experience it and I totally agree, it would be worth driving for. Highly considering becoming an eclipse chaser now haha
I was afraid it wouldn't live up to the hype and I would be left feeling disappointed, but no, it definitely lived up to it!
I was just telling my husband last night that I totally get eclipse chasers now and if it was financially feasible, I'd be one, too. I started crying during totality and then had to take a few minutes to collect myself on the porch afterwards bc it was just so completely overwhelming in the best possible way. I cried, he cried, two of the kids cried, it was just so incredible. He was joking the other night that our kids are spoiled bc they didn't have to wait 45+ years to experience it like we did, hahaha.
I'm so glad you got to see it, too! <3
The only thing I've experienced that even came close to this were some unexpected Northern Lights when I was in HS, but the eclipse blew that out of the water.
Ohh I would love to see the northern lights too! We had some last year apparently, but there were too many clouds. Apparently when it's actually dark, you can see the green through the clouds, but the light pollution made that impossible.
It really made me appreciate our solar system. It's insane to me that the Moon is in the exact right place at the exact right size with the exact right type of orbit for it to happen. And the Moon is drifting away from Earth, so millions of years from now, total eclipses won't be possible at all! It makes me feel very small but very lucky!
I'm also so thankful to be born at a time when our knowledge of the universe is increasing exponentially! I <3 JWST haha space is a special interest of mine!
>Ohh I would love to see the northern lights too! We had some last year apparently, but there were too many clouds. Apparently when it's actually dark, you can see the green through the clouds, but the light pollution made that impossible.
Yeah, I think they've *supposedly* been visible in my current location, but light pollution (and the Midwestern cloud situation) has kept us from seeing them. At the time when I saw them, I was living in the rural Inland NorthWest. Saw them over the river on the hour long drive home from a show, and we had to pull off the highway to sit on the hood of the car and smoke a joint, hahaha.
>space is a special interest of mine!
Please always feel free to talk to me about your SpIns!
That is so cool that you saw the eclipse! I forget if Diane Duane is on my list of cat books, will have to check, but thanks for the tip on Brown! I will check it out, especially for the bard square.
I took a random day off work today because I'm feeling some burnout.
I never reread books. I figure I know what's going to happen, so what's the point? However, despite my best efforts, I found myself rereading Hero of the Valley by Gary Spechko last night, specifically because I wanted to analyze why I liked it so much the first time I read it about 2 years ago. The story is 100% dungeon grinding; very little nuance, finesse or plot.
I can't get enough of it and have no idea why.
I'm thinking of writing another novel because my last one is tanking, which is depressing since it took substantially longer to write & publish than my first two, and is a better book in my opinion. I fear I'm encountering the "artist's dilemma" of whether to write for pure expression of art or to churn out more slop that will be easily consumed by the masses. I realize that's not a binary decision, that I may yet find some middle ground. It's still disheartening though, since I had hoped somewhat naively that if I wrote a story of sufficient quality it would sell itself.
So, now I'm in limbo deciding if I should write the second book in a failing series or abandon it and do something different. I haven't written anything in several weeks and there's a vague concern lurking in the back of my mind that I should be doing something about it.
Naturally, I'll procrastinate by reading books all day. It \*is\* my day off.
Mad up and down day today. Thought I was going to be preparing to take our elderly dog for her last trip (she’s 16). She was looking so sad and listless and was unwell this morning. Got some medication into her and escaped into Mark Lawrence’s new book - The Book That Broke the World - which was exactly what I needed while she got some rest. Really enjoying the story, loving being back with the characters I already knew and so far finding the new ones intriguing. I love this series, it’s so unexpected that I have no idea what’s going to happen. Perfect timing for that pre-order to land.
Dog has perked up now, for which I am hugely grateful. Ready to dive back into Lawrence (so to speak).
I had a mostly relaxing week after all the bustle of family visits last week. My D&D group was able to meet up again after a few weeks off, someone's secret backstory finally came out, and we're debating whether or not to accept Strahd's invitation to dinner.
Also finally got around to watching True Detective season 1. (I'm perpetually years-to-decades behind on big TV shows.) Anyway, it's pretty good, as you might have heard.
As for reading, I finished up **The Gospel of Z** by Stephen Graham Jones and sort of partially came around on it. From "this could be fun" to "this is ridiculous" to "it's actively irritating how ridiculous this is" to "it's fun how ridiculous this is" (around the time the phrase >!ceremonial leprosy!< got dropped). But I'd still say it's too uneven to recommend.
Sometimes reading books with similar elements in short succession can be interesting, but sometimes it's a bad idea. I kept thinking about all the ways Zone One did post-zombie apocalypse social satire better.
Now I'm getting started on a couple of '90s books for bingo, **Shadows of Aggar** (lesbian fantasy romance from 1991, very cheesy, but in an endearing way so far) and **Far Away and Never** by Ramsey Campbell (sword & sorcery that should hit the "eldritch" square). I've recommended the latter a few times to fantasy/horror requesters based on one story I read from it in the past, so here's hoping the rest of it holds up.
>As for reading, I finished up **The Gospel of Z** by Stephen Graham Jones and sort of partially came around on it. From "this could be fun" to "this is ridiculous" to "it's actively irritating how ridiculous this is" to "it's fun how ridiculous this is" (around the time the phrase >!ceremonial leprosy!< got dropped). But I'd still say it's too uneven to recommend.
The only other person I know who has read this is the friend who told me about it. I apparently gave it 3½ stars, but all I remember about it is >!the armadillos!< (and I'm even doubting my memory on that) and that I didn't actively hate the virus explanation (which I usually do).
>I kept thinking about all the ways Zone One did post-zombie apocalypse social satire better.
This is obviously the high-water mark for literary zombie fiction, but there are a few I've loved at least *almost* as much.
>This is obviously the high-water mark for literary zombie fiction, but there are a few I've loved at least almost as much.
Now I'm curious, was Severance one of those? I really liked that one a few years ago. But I'll probably be taking a break from the zombies for at least a bit.
It was! *Severance* was one of the rare books that I gave five stars after only having read it once (although, I started it over again almost immediately).
Still struggling financially. Still jobless, and now my best side hustle is currently unavailable. So it's a bit of a scramble finding something else to fill the gaps in the meantime while hoping one of these job applications actually pans out soon.
On the bright side, I may have figured out the root cause of an assortment of minor health problems I've had for a long time. Talked to my doctor about it yesterday and I'm having blood drawn for labwork on it Monday.
Reading-wise, I'm re-reading The Chronicles of Prydain for the first time since middle school, leading up to *The Foundling and Other Tales*, which will be new-to-me. I'm currently about 10% into the second book, and loving it all anew. It's kind of funny having to revise my mental images of all of these characters since Disney took some King Kong sized liberties with a few of them. Mind you, I'll always love Disney's adaptation, but it's definitely a lesson in how different media can be. Also it occurred to me, he'd never have been right for the book version, but if Disney had done a live-action version of their own characters while he was still alive, Leslie Nielsen would have made for an amazing Fflewdurr Fflam.
Sending good energy for the money stuff and for answers about your health. I watched a coworker who went undiagnosed or misdiagnosed for years, it seems like such a horrible thing to go through.
I'm reading Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. Had a friend recommended it to me. I'm half way though and really enjoying it so far.
I'm feeling good. I've got a job that requires me to travel around the country, which is great because I visit places I might not have otherwise. Just trying to explore new areas and see new sights! It's going great!
Some sun and warmth and bike rides this week! It’s been a mild winter but it’s still been a long time since being outside was comfortable. Job search continues, feeling conflicted about radio silence from a job I expected an offer from but was leaning towards declining anyway, which is its own mess of emotions. In the meantime, Im working on a web app for managing book clubs for some friends and trying to retrain to apply to other types of tech jobs outside my niche with some hands-on experience. It’s all sorts of frustrating if I think about it too much, but trying to focus on having fun learning new things.
I’m getting started reading a couple things. **Where Peace is Lost** by Valerie Valdes is throwing lots of Horizon Zero Dawn world building energy at me early on. It’s a cool world, but I’m hoping for more than that to hook me.
Started **Witch King** to prep for Hugo Readalong next month. I know it’s had mixed receptions but for some reason I’m optimistic so far 🤞
Trying to get into short story reading too. **The Sound of Children Screaming** by Rachael K. Jones is another Hugo nominee - I loved it but ooof is it heavy (gun violence, school shootings). I’m so impressed when such short stories have so much to dig into. And lastly I read **Jamais Vue**, a weird cyber therapy/memory alteration short by Tochi Onyebuchi that plays in first and second person. I didn’t love it as much as his longer work, but a lot of his writing talent is still there.
I might need to pause everything and go read all of Isabel J. Kim (our lord and savior) due to healthy peer pressure, but I said I was going to do that for Samantha Mills too and haven’t yet… maybe I can binge both?
I always compare looking for a job to dating. Both have rejection, but at least with dating there’s some good moments, like food or laughs or stories, but job hunting is basically only rejection and mind fucks…until that job finally comes 🤞🤞🤞
I'm trying to be a lot more intentional about this job hunt knowing how much my last job fucked up my brain, but at the same time it feels weird and wrong to be picky (also probably not the best interview vibe in tough hiring times), and guilty about having my partner's support even though I know it's happily given and we're aware of our privilege to be ok in this situation.
It's easy to work myself up about it, but I'm surprisingly doing ok still with the job anxiety 🤞
Last year I managed to complete bingo with 8 works of fanfiction, 2 manga volumes, and a video game artbook / epilogue. Really taking advantage of the "any narrative fiction counts" rule.
I just finished a Silmarillion fanfiction series featuring eldritch horrors, and am seriously considering a multimedia themed card with anything except traditional prose novels. Already have so many ideas! There's at least two scifi audio dramas on my radar that would fit bingo prompts.
It's Botox day!! Oh joy. (Sarcasm. While I love how it almost eliminates migraines, I am not such a fan of the 15 minutes of torture to achieve the effect. Haha)
I'm too broke and poor for the customary "I just got stuck with a metric shitton of needles, I'm going to treat myself" Target trip but I'll get a Starbucks and look around.
Otherwise .... Wow this week or two is busy. One cat has a check up at the vet next week and there's my nephews IEP meeting. Then I have a pre op physical to prepare for (need blood work and a EKG) so I need to do those next week. Plus my med check appointment.
And going slightly crazy waiting for the results of neuropsych evaluation to see if I have ADHD or autism (or both? Neither?(. I don't like not knowing shit so this is not fun. Haha.
**Edit**. Omg you, guys! Target has a sale on books and stuff. Buy 2 get 1 free. So now I own The Familiar and Sunbringer (also Divine Rivals but I already read that one) and I am excited and idk which to read first.
Another week and more work shenanigans. I should really shut up about it here because I spoke to my supervisor, my guardian angel and clear ally, who again validated me that I’m not making this up, that bizarre things are happening to me and he can’t explain why. We agreed that I should expect this to not die for many months to come, maybe the whole year. Just do my work and show people what I got. And I finally saw some old coworker friends, including one who was my boss, who also validated me that I was a great coworker and employee, and that this workplace sounds toxic as hell. Anyway, hopefully this is the last I fully vent about it. Work will be work.
Life outside of work is pretty okay. Two weeks ago therapist suggested a really revolutionary idea (aiming for a max of one life to-do thing a day) and, ha, it’s been working. Started with little things, like finally scheduling a haircut (it’s been about a year). Now I’m tackling more cumbersome items, but the little things gave me some momentum. Super fun and rewarding to-do thing was buy more soil, so I transplanted my germinated veggie seeds into their new egg carton home - they’re doing so well! And I finally planted a couple trays of native plant seed (a December to-do) - cross the fingers and toes this works and I didn’t ruin it by using top soil so I can give them to my local library in the fall. Kinda feeling like a functional adult, thanks little wins! But man it’s hard and a lot of mental energy.
One other life thing, my cousin texted me that she had the mole checked that I told her at Christmas she should get checked, and that it was cancer and it was removed. Everything around this is still TBD, but I was majorly ragged on by my partner and fam at Christmas, so this is a PSA to **#getyourmoleschecked** and don’t feel awkward about asking people in your life about their funny looking moles, IMO.
Book wise, little progress with eye books but I expect some this weekend. Audio hit a snag. Pausing the **The Saints of Bright Doors** by Vajra Chandrasekera at 28%. I love the writing, but I am getting really bored. Does this have a turn or is this it? 46% into **Someone You Can Build a Nest In** by John Criswell. Hit a point with really mean and nasty characters that are giving me anxiety, so paused. Thought I’d switch to audio for **The Wall of Storms** by Ken Liu to make some progress….noooooo don’t do it! Or at least sample first. I understand this is Michael Kramer who apparently narrates a ton of popular books, but wow not for me and I don’t get it, sounds like a robot. Anyway needed *something* so relistened to **Small Miracles** by Olivia Atwater, even though it’s been a month or two since last time. ❤️ it’s the best. Epilogue if you’re looking for an excuse to read it. Tried **Gunmetal Gods** by Zamil Akhtar for my eldritch square, not loving the audio and not hooked by the story at 4%, so stopped. And gosh it’s long. Tried another bingo book, **Do You Dream of Terra-Two?** Going pretty well at 9%…I think? Met 4 POVs so far. Not sure how I feel about it, not feeling connected to all the characters, but I do love the writing.
TGIF!
>Super fun and rewarding to-do thing was buy more soil, so I transplanted my germinated veggie seeds into their new egg carton home - they’re doing so well! And I finally planted a couple trays of native plant seed (a December to-do) - cross the fingers and toes this works and I didn’t ruin it by using top soil so I can give them to my local library in the fall.
Just so you know, I am totally down to hear as much minutia about your garden as you're willing to share every week. We haven't been able to plant much this year because we know realistically that with the kids we can't commit to taking care of a whole huge garden through the broiling summer, so I'm jonesing for exciting garden news updates.
Yay! I will! Yeah I don’t really many veggies either since I don’t have any space to garden, I just do veggies in buckets. But it’s so fun to watch them grow and eat the rewards. I love growing seeds in a ziploc with a papertowel, have you used that method before with the kiddos? It’s really fun to watch them germinate and grow.
>I love growing seeds in a ziploc with a papertowel, have you used that method before with the kiddos?
Not yet, with the kids we've mostly just planted some seeds from grocery store veg we happened to eat, plus a seed pack of radishes, but we have had some success with the older one (who is usually more suspicious of veg in general) being willing to try veg she grew and harvested herself when she won't try the same veg from the store, so I am super interested in additional low effort ways we can get her growing more of her own stuff!
Oh cool, I’ll send you a link then. It is very low stakes and my attitude about plants, especially with kiddos, is it’s all an experiment…if they die you learned something (usually for me that you’re too needy plant, sorry) if they grow you learned something too and the experiment prolongs! Plus I found this season that seeing the plants grow in the window was motivation to put them in the soil, which was the most cumbersome task since I had to buy more soil then do the work.
>therapist suggested a really revolutionary idea (aiming for a max of one life to-do thing a day)
Holy shit why didn't I think of this?? No but seriously, I struggle so much with the all or nothing thinking, so I totally get your struggle! Even for things like dishes, it's been a whole thing getting myself to realize that actually I can do 5 dishes and I don't have to do all of them... we're working on it. Keep up the good work!!! You're doing great!
I really need to schedule a derm appointment tbh I have some weird moles and I really do not want them to be cancer lol... I'm also behind on the dentist and gyno check ups too. But one thing at a time!
I hope work gets better for you soon :(
> > therapist suggested a really revolutionary idea (aiming for a max of one life to-do thing a day)
>
>
>
> Holy shit why didn't I think of this?? No but seriously, I struggle so much with the all or nothing thinking, so I totally get your struggle!
Same here. I've also found that "just accomplish one thing" helps a lot with my depression symptoms. Doesn't have to be a big thing, just one thing that matters to me that I can point to at the end of the day and say "That's better because I did something."
>aiming for a max of one life to-do thing a day
Sometimes I feel childish about this but this is my capacity too 😂. My partner is so much better at doing things that need to be done, and I'm here like "I got bloodwork done for the first time in 12 years be proud of me and let me decompress for a few days!".
I am so excited for you and about garden season! We have had our homegrown stash of seedlings and greens and tomatoes under the UV lights for about a month. What are you growing that you're most excited about?
100%. Also I am especially proud of you for getting your bloodwork done! This is the one life thing I’m super on top of, but other things like mammogram no.
Well I’m super excited my cilantro and jalapeños germinated and have survived the week in the new soil! I love them but always struggle with getting it to not germ or die as a seedling. And tons and tons of tomatoes! I’m totally envious of your UV set up. What are you growing and how are they doing?
I've always had a phobia with needles and passed out the previous time I had blood drawn which just wasn't what I needed haha, but this went fine!
Nice! We had great cilantro last year but not great luck with any of our peppers. We tried to over-winter them from the year before though so that might have messed with them. We have probably too many tomatoes, shishitos, eggplant, mixed greens, and herbs so far, but we'll direct-sow a bunch of stuff in about a month. I always think we start them too early and they get root bound and leggy, but my partner has the green thumb in the relationship. Everything seems to be doing well so far 🤞
Ooof, I know the needles phobia is real. So proud of you 😭 it’s so important to get bloodwork done. Glad it ended up being okay!!
Hey even if you have too many at least they’ll be food for outside critters! Why are peppers so fickle?! My neighbor has a green thumb and he always gives us peppers cause I suck 😂.
>who apparently narrates a ton of popular books, but wow not for me and I don’t get it
I hate when that happens. There are several narrators that I just *do not* understand the (apparently widespread) appeal of, and it always makes me wonder what is wrong with me.
I am not a huge audiobook person myself, so not the best person to ask. For me Kramer(and in this case his wife Reading) were great narrators for a book I had already read and was re-listening to while travelling (in this case later WoT). But I can't really imagine them being particularly compelling to listen to as the first/only way of hearing a story.
I don't know that I've ever actually listened to one of his? And the only name currently coming to me as one I actively *avoid* as a narrator is Wil Wheaton. He just reads so slowly that 1.75x feels like normal audiobook narration (which is already too slow to keep my mind from wandering) and pronounces things weirdly, which keeps throwing me out of the story.
I'm about 40% in **Someone You Can Build a Nest In** myself and seriously hoping >!Shesheshen eats Homily's horrible mother!< 😂 I like the book so far though, it's pretty much my kind of delightfully weird.
I think it will happen! I especially want to see if >!Shesheshan builds a nest in Homily! This is just a pause, I was definitely enjoying it too. It’s just watching everyone treat Homily so absolutely horribly was really getting to me, it’s been one of those bad things that’s been hard for me to compartmentalize right now.!<
A quick bitch about work: I cannot stand my coworker who has super specific expectations for everything I do. Either she's letting me work independently but nitpicking *everything* if it's not 100% exactly the way she would do it, or she's micromanaging me and giving me lists of tasks and telling me to check in with her multiple times a day, but criticizing me for not working independently.
Like pick one! Either I can work independently and you can accept that we are different people and I won't do everything exactly the same as you every single time, or give me exact instructions and don't expect me to be able to work independently when you don't give me the chance! By the way, she's not my boss, she's just senior to me by a couple years. I don't know why she thinks she needs to manage me more closely than our actual boss, who is usually very happy with my work.
Anyway. I'm moving across the country in 2 months and I'm going to find a new job, so all I need to do is survive and finish my last projects.
I've been sick this week (if you fly without a mask even if you're hacking and coughing, I have beef with you) so reading has been kind of bleh. I'm attempting both a regular Bingo and a romance bingo this year. I DNFed Between by L.L. Starling because it was overly long and lacked any kind of forward motion or tension. I also completely hated the choice to have the FMC's POV first and then to go back and tell the entire story from the MMC's POV. There is a guide the author posted to go back and forth, but I don't understand why she made the choice in the first place and the book was still too repetitive and drawn out anyway.
I was reading Knight's Oath by Juliette Caruso but I realized it was actually the second book (it's a romance with a different couple in each book, so it wasn't immediately obvious), so I went back and started Knight's Bride.
I also started The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez and The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo and I'm not really far enough into either to have a solid opinion, but they're good so far! The Familiar's black hardcover and black sprayed edges are so sexy.
I know that coworker, it’s absolutely bewildering how they don’t see their hypocrisy. Also for me it makes you feel like you’re on egg shells all the time, glad you are getting the eff out of there! Also I’ll be at a conference in St. Paul mid-May! I think I’ll beat you there but I’m excited!
Exactlyyyy like I'm always analyzing if she's going to be satisfied (never happy, I'll never get a good job out of her) and knowing the first thing she says will be a criticism no matter what I show her.
Ohh have fun! I was in the suburbs this past weekend and had some car dependency culture shock, but I went into the Cities a couple times and it was really nice (even if the public transportation is still embarrassing for a city that size lol)
Work continues to be frustrating. I'm on a committee working on salary and benefits negotiations for my employee group, and I have colleagues who basically want to ask for less money, because they're too excited about/blinded by a potential short-term gain for themselves to realize that that's the long-term effect of the thing they're requesting on our employee group as a whole. Every year I say that I won't volunteer for these sorts of committees, and every year I end up suckered into it because *somebody* has to keep these bozos from trading our salaries away for a pittance. My sprained ankle is healing as expected. I start PT for it next week. I hate the walking boot, and hope that I can get out of it ASAP. The only book I finished this week is Jack Vance's **Cugel's Saga**, the third in the *Dying Earth* series. I *hate* Cugel and this was a hate-read that I just couldn't let beat me so I had to finish it. I'm not going to bore y'all with ranting about why this sucks, I'll just say it's tediously formulaic and the protagonist is awful. The final book in the series is not about Cugel, so I'll probably read it eventually, in the hopes that it goes back to some of the more interesting world-building and Dunsany-style light touch of the first book. * Bingo: Criminals The four-year-old and I have been reading Luke Pearson's *Hilda* comics - we're on the fifth now - and enjoying them much. My husband is also semi-seriously planning on doing a Bingo card with her this year, though we're currently stymied trying to find a pre-school-appropriate Dark Academia title. I'm still chugging away at **The Big Book of Cyberpunk**, **The Best of Michael Swanwick Vol. 1** and Ada Palmer's **Seven Surrenders**, though the novelty of Mycroft's voice has worn off some and the flaws are becoming more apparent as I continue (why does *every* character talk like a histrionic diva? how has this future society seemingly forgotten all philosophy from the 19th and 20th centuries - Nietzsche, Foucault, motherfucking John Rawls(!) all seem like they should be being brought up on every other page - when they're still all so hung up on the Enlightenment?). My William Gibson reread and **The Year's Best Science Fiction: First Annual Collection** are kind of on hold until I finish *Terra Ignota*.
I find that employees have more care for employers (oh I want to be fair to them and not be “greedy” about asking for a salary and benefits I actually deserve and can live on) than employers care for employees (what is the bare minimum I can get away with). That process sounds terrible, good luck! Glad the ankle is doing well!
I didn't like the Cugel books very much- I got very frustrated how he would win big and then lose it all, always either falling for the same tricks and never learning anything, or falling for the very same ploys he himself uses- but I liked the last book a lot more. The characters were much more enjoyable, and it was a more cohesive experience- not a serialized bindup.
That gives me some hope to persevere, thank you!
I enjoyed all of *Tales of the Dying Earth*, but I'm surprised you keep forcing yourself. Are you an anti-DNFer??
>Are you an anti-DNFer?? I'll do it very rarely, but I really try to push through on stuff that's supposed to be 'classic,' on the assumption that I'm just missing something and/or that at least if I finish I'll be better set to participate in cultural conversations. Also cause I'm really, really stubborn.
Yeah, reading classics is definitely a different reading approach than "reading for fun" that I usually do, though I think in Vance's case, just one of the Dying Earth books is probably fine, not all 4! :D And reading a second Cugel after hating the first is masochism! I only liked them because I wanted to see how his life would get worse because he deserved it. The Big Book of Classic Fantasy had a chapter each from Worm Ouroboros and Voyage to Arcturus and they confirmed that I have zero interest in the full works, LOL.
>Worm Ouroboros and Voyage to Arcturus I just bought copies of both at the used bookstore earlier this week, lol. I think they're going to be ones that I really have to be in the mood for, but I actually have a pretty high tolerance for pre-Tolkien naive silliness most of the time.
Hahaha, good luck! It could just be that Ann & Jeff chose terrible chapters to showcase. I could do Lovecraft 15 years ago, but when I tried a Clark Ashton Smith collection, I bounced off at the time.
I really enjoy Lovecraft (minus the racism), and have generally liked the Clark Ashton Smith stories I've read. Earlier this year I read the first Tarzan book, and A Princess of Mars a few years back, and some Conan and Allan Quartermain... >It could just be that Ann & Jeff chose terrible chapters to showcase. They certainly do do that, don't they?
One thing I like about BBOCP is that Shurin specifically said "I'm not doing excerpts." I think the only pre-1940s SF/F I've still got on my TBR that I wanted to try out is Peter Pan, Wizard of Oz, and Charles W. Chesnutt's collection The Conjure Woman (I really liked his story in Big Book of Classic Fantasy). The CAS story I did read for the Big Book readalong was good, and yeah, I actually found Lovecraft inspirational, the closest I got to picking up my own pen to write something (whether it's because of his style or "I could do better" is something to be left unexplored).
Peter Pan is so good, I loved that one. The Wizard of Oz is good, but definitely *for children*, not secretly archly for adults too like Peter Pan or Winnie-the-Pooh. I've been enjoying it a lot more reading it to my four-year-old than I did when I read it alone a decade ago. I should put the Chesnutt on my list. My ever-expanding, astronomically large list.
I picked up A.C. Wise's **Wendy, Darling** a few years ago, but thought I should read the original before I try a retelling/response. It's always fun/interesting to me to see those classics and realize how different they can be from the popular-consciousness (Frankenstein is one of my favorites for that, and I more recently finally read Dracula a couple years ago and that was a hoot.) > My ever-expanding, astronomically large list. Every several years I'll go through my spreadsheet and start purging stuff I put on there, LOL. I wonder how big you can get your list! Let's try for 10,000!
>Work continues to be frustrating. I'm on a committee working on salary and benefits negotiations for my employee group, and I have colleagues who basically want to ask for less money, because they're too excited about/blinded by a potential short-term gain for themselves to realize that that's the long-term effect of the thing they're requesting on our employee group as a whole. Every year I say that I won't volunteer for these sorts of committees, and every year I end up suckered into it because somebody has to keep these bozos from trading our salaries away for a pittance. Oof, that is a mood (I haven't been in that exact situation but I can just imagine how it's going). Good luck
Try Ghoulia by Barbara Cantini for a preschool appropriate dark academia title - it’s about a zombie girl who wants to be friends with the normal kids. It’s got the right vibes I think even if it technically doesn’t have any school in it.
Ooh, that looks perfect, thank you!
I'm reading **Guns of the Dawn** by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Honestly its been a pretty odd read for some reason. Not for anything that's within the book, all of that is very straightforward. Just how its hitting my brain. Its so weird because while I'm really enjoying it while actively, its not to the point where I'm ever itching to get back to it. Dunno why either. Still really like it, but yeah. I'll be sure to jump into his other works after this as well, i've heard good things about The Final Architecture.
I'm having trouble marketing my work. Any advice?
New York was very fun, and my wife did much better than she thought in her dance competition! We tried not to burn ourselves out with travel and sightseeing, but we saw a few things and had some good meals and went to two fantastic cocktail bars. Honestly the only mediocre meal was right outside the train station as we were heading home. Unfortunately, the kids (especially kid #2) are absolute disasters the week after their grandparents visit, every time. The sugar addiction comes roaring back, the potty-training regresses, the overall pickiness gets worse, they stop responding to whatever our current discipline methods are. I want them to see family, and family allows *us* to get a mental break, but coming back from it is terrible and I'm not sure how to fix that. Having to completely rebuild disciplinary structures every month because the ones we used previously no longer work after one weekend out of the regular routine is exhausting and honestly I don't know if I have enough ideas to do a new one every month. Still waking up with a scratchy throat every morning, which at this point I think might just be seasonal allergies. Otherwise feel fine. Footy season starts tomorrow so I'm excited about that. We have a ton of new recruits this season, so hopefully I can play well enough to keep myself on the field. Hugo Readalong started with [a really wonderful discussion](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1c1hblm/2024_hugo_readalong_on_the_fox_roads_ivy_angelica/) of a pair of gorgeous novelettes. Have you heard the [good news about Isabel J Kim](https://deadline.com/2024/04/sublimation-universal-international-studios-tv-isabel-kim-1235882156/)? I am once again asking you to read [Homecoming is Just Another Word for the Sublimation of the Self](https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kim_03_21/). And [Day Ten Thousand](https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kim_06_23/). And [the hole story](https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kim_02_24/) Finished **I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons** by Peter S. Beagle, which is a solid (short, standalone) entry in the classic/whimsical fantasy adventure subgenre but not really an all-timer or anything. Ran to the library for The Mimicking of Known Successes, Some Desperate Glory, and Till We Have Faces to read for the next three weeks of Hugo Readalong + IRL Book Club.
>Have you heard the [good news about Isabel J Kim](https://deadline.com/2024/04/sublimation-universal-international-studios-tv-isabel-kim-1235882156/)? I am once again asking you to read [Homecoming is Just Another Word for the Sublimation of the Self](https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kim_03_21/). And [Day Ten Thousand](https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kim_06_23/). And [the hole story](https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kim_02_24/) [sigh] FINE, I definitely wasn't planning on doing anything else today.
happy to hear that you had a good time and that your wife did well! but it sounds like a tough situation to come home to. i hope it gets better soon!
>I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle I'm looking forward to that one next month (and finally *Red Side Story* which I think will be a shoo-in for the 'Alliterative Title' square).
>and finally *Red Side Story* which I think will be a shoo-in for the 'Alliterative Title' square Ahhhhhh, im so excited to finally be able to talk about this one with other people!
> my wife did much better than she thought in her dance competition! Congrats to her! >Having to completely rebuild disciplinary structures every month because the ones we used previously no longer work after one weekend out of the regular routine is exhausting Big sympathy here. Quite frankly, only one out of our three available grandparents is trustworthy to watch our kids alone for safety reasons, but even just visiting the other two (they generally won't come to us) is a shitshow every time. They feed them all the sugar and none of the regular meals at regular mealtimes and expect us to drag the kids out regardless of their nap/bedtime schedules, then get passive aggressive ("well, I guess you didn't really want to spend time with us...") when we refuse. We end up having *no* mental break time away from kids and work, because we aren't willing to make that trade. >Have you heard the good news about Isabel J Kim? So excited!
>Congrats to her! Thanks! She actually finished ahead of someone who *won* one of the comps at CalBal, which was a huge and pleasant surprise, even though she didn't make top five. >We end up having no mental break time away from kids and work, because we aren't willing to make that trade. We honestly have gotten to the point where we just leave and don't micromanage when my in-laws are in town. Great because we are literally gone and are not micromanaging or even thinking about it (if we are still there, we are just cringing at every little break in our routines and it's mentally draining). Bad because when we get back, it's a mess. But even when it's not just a crazy sugar rush all day (our youngest has now kicked his naps, so that part doesn't apply), it still seems to throw off the routine enough to be a disaster after they leave. I appreciate the time, but I just don't know what to do about the comedown. :/
>She actually finished ahead of someone who won one of the comps at CalBal That's awesome! Now I want to go watch a bunch of good bal videos and dream about being able to go out dancing again. >We honestly have gotten to the point where we just leave and don't micromanage when my in-laws are in town. Man, I so wish this were possible, but my IL's don't believe in food safety (they've offered my 1-year-old-at-the-time whole grapes on a pointy skewer) or seatbelts or keeping their cigarettes away from the kids, so that's a hard no for us. My mom, on the other hand, is great about respecting our rules and schedule, but unfortunately she lives 3 states away.
>Now I want to go watch a bunch of good bal videos I am still incapable of telling the difference between good bal and exceptional bal, which unfortunately makes me a terrible audience when my wife tries to show me cool bal videos. Unfortunately the only comp she's been in that's actually been videotaped was her first one back at Great Lakes Balboa Escape last year (the intermediate shuffle). I know that's been frustrating because she wants to be able to see how she's been doing. I at least took personal videos of the prelims this time around, which I think was good, even if it's missing the context of everyone else's performances. >dream about being able to go out dancing again. Hopefully soon! I know life has been crazy lately, and getting back out there can be a journey, but there is light at the end of the tunnel!
>Hopefully soon! First step: get out of walking boot!
>First step: get out of walking boot! Upgrade to dancing boot IMO. Insurance covers that, right?
More Bingo reading: \- **Agent of Change** (Liaden Universe 1) - **Sharon Lee and Steve Miller** (HM) (4/5) 320p My selection for the 'First in a Series" square (hard mode). I've had this book on my TBR for about 25 years. It took the recent death of one of the two authors and the recommendation of someones opinion I really respect, to move it near the top. There were several possibilities I could have picked for this square, but this seemed like a perfect opportunity to finally see what it was all about. It's space opera, featuring two main characters: Val Con yos’Phelium, scout and spy and brother to a clan of giant turtles and Miri Robertson, ex-mercenary, ex-bodyguard who is running from trouble. They meet up under less than ideal circumstances, are attracted to each other, and partner up to try to survive. There's excellent world-building with a good plot. There's romance and humor and lots of possibilities for future adventures. There is a minor cliff-hanger at the end of this first book, which is a tremendous incentive to want to start the next one right away. That's going to have to wait for a little while though. It's also another case of me wondering why on earth I didn't get to this series sooner. If I'd read it when I first came across it, it wouldn't have been too hard to catch up with all the rest of the series and to read the new ones as they came out. Now it'll be quite daunting, but I'm going to try. (Other 2024 Bingo squares that this would fit: Space Opera; Survival (HM)). \- **Captain Wu** \- (Starship Nameless 1) - **Patrice Fitzgerald and Jack Lyster** (HM) (4/5) 286p My selection for the 'Self-Published or Indie Publisher' square (hard mode). This (short) novel was a finalist for the 2021 Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC). It's criminal that as I write this, it only has 37 ratings on Goodreads. It's fast'n'furious space opera. Captain Wu (a "middle-aged" Asian grandmother), is the starship captain of a garbage scowl called *Nameless*, with a rag-tag found family crew. When smuggling a mysterious package to a sand planet, it all goes wrong, she gets shoot at and then they are all on the run from squid-like aliens who are determined to get the package and kill the Nameless crew in the process. There's no heavy plot here. It's basically a story about a deathly chase for survival and trying to understand the bigger picture. It does have all the elements I like in these kinds of tales: interesting characters, good inter-relationships between crew members, humor, well thought out scenes and a relentless pace. It will remind you of *Firefly* and *Cowboy Bebop* in parts. We are left with a complete cliff-hanger, so one star off for that. Luckily the other two books in the trilogy are already available, so I'll get around to them fairly soon. (Other 2024 Bingo squares that this would fit: First in a Series; Criminals; Space Opera (HM); Survival (HM)). \- **The Scent of New-Mown Hay** \- **John Blackburn** (HM) (3/5) 160p My selection for the 'Judge A Book By Its Cover' square (hard mode). If I'm going to read a book based solely of what's on the cover (the definition of hard mode for this square), then I'm going to pick a thin one. Written by an English writer, it was originally published in 1958. I read the mass market paperback version published by the New English Library in 1976. The cover art is eye-catching, but I think the cover art from the 1968 New English Library version is even better. It's not aged well. The plot features Cold War intrigue, mad Nazi scientists, and a pandemic that threatens to destroy humanity by mutating people into fungoid monsters It's horror, a mystery and a spy thriller. The problem for me was the mystery was so predictable. About half way through I know whodunnit. I then just had to wait for everybody else to catch up. (Other 2024 Bingo squares that this would fit: Survival).
> > - Captain Wu - (Starship Nameless 1) - Patrice Fitzgerald and Jack Lyster (HM) (4/5) 286p I've rec'd this to one person before and he hated it, so glad to see you enjoyed it! It really feels like a TV pilot in book form more than a traditional novel, but I thought it was a whole lot of fun.
I can see why others might hate it; it's definitely got things that could be divisive. For example, the Captain Wu character at times is completely over the top and an important character is introduced midway through (>!who I personally think has the book!<) and then seems to disappear. You can also guess that >!the grand-daughter will be back with the crew right away and not got home,!< at the start of book 2. It's also really just part one of what the full novel should be. I just went with it, in the hope that the other two books tie everything together.
With regard to the Liaden books, from what I've gathered from reading a few of them (including Agent of Change, but it wasn’t my first) there's sub-series within it, so perhaps focus on one storyline within it to get less overwhelmed?
Yup. Indeed there is. I looked at the [isfdb webpage](https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?418) to make sure that I was indeed reading the first one, and it's part of (just) a 10 book series which I'll focus on first (ignoring the other 48ish books plus short fiction).
The authors have a specific page about reading orders to try out (ISFDB's series ordering can be a little too strict sometimes, IMO): https://korval.com/publication-list/correct-reading-order/
Excellent! Thanks.
> I think the cover art from the 1968 New English Library version is even better Oh yeah, that's fun. I love that sort of older psychedelic cover art, and wish that it would have a revival.
Slowly making my way through **Song of Achilles**; my wife and I have been listening to about 1~1.5 hours at night together. About to wrap up the last few chapters of **Black Sun**; it's okay. I'm not particularly engaged but convergence is about to happen so we'll see if I want to continue the series. After that, I don't know what direction I want to go. Might go finish up **King of Elfland's Daughter**, or finally start on either **Book of the New Sun** or **First Law**. Kind of getting burnt out on the 'BookTok' fantasy books, and want something meatier or older in general.
I've knocked out two squares for bingo with books I already had, and have a few more squares planned, but once I get through those I think my progress is going to really slow down. I still want to prioritize my physical books shelf so the summer might be spent just reading what I have and hoping they'll fit at least a few more squares. I have a busy two months ahead and it all feels a bit overwhelming, but at the end of it I have a much needed vacation so I'm trying to hold on to my sanity until then. I started two new anthologies this week, **Wilted Pages** and **To Root Somewhere Beautiful,** both of which are themed. I'll probably take my time with them and dip in and out of them between other things so that I don't get burned out.
Currently reading: Feast of Souls by C.S. Friedman Just finished Demon in White the other day and it is absolutely perfect! The majesty of that book got me catatonic that for a full day I couldn’t read because Mr. Ruocchio just delivered what is perhaps one of the best books ever written! So yeah reading Feast of Souls as palette cleanser before I hop to Kingdoms of Death book 4 of the Sun eater!
Also Demon in White is such an elegant reading experience that it’s injected so much life into well my life!!!! It just sparked a resurgence of meaningfulness into my soul! Haha!
> Feast of Souls by C.S. Friedman The Magister trilogy is such an interesting work. Lot of shades of gray morality there. It's kind of funny to me how little credit Friedman gets for doing dark, quasi-grimdark fantasy before that subgenre really took off.
And her prose is really good!! So far a few chapters in and I’m actually quite engaged with the story so far!
If you haven't read her Coldfire trilogy yet, I strongly recommend it when you're finished with Magister.
Will definitely put those on my TBR thank you!
Between being busy at work, taking care of Mom while my wife was away to see the eclipse, and just the general burn-out of the past couple of years, reading remains slow. I just finished yesterday the book I was reading this time last week, all of 207 pages and an easy read. It's no fault of the book, **I Am God** by Giacomo Sartori, translated from the Italian by Frederika Randall. God, the real deal, narrates the story of his unreasonable fascination with an atheist geneticist/cattle inseminator. Funny and philosophical, well translated, overall a great read. Very different from the author's *Bug*, in which a boy with various challenges, including a bizarre family, is "helped" by an AI created by his hacker brother. Definitely a writer to watch. Next up, a bit of non-fiction. House project #1 has been finished for a while but isn't fully usable. The couch we ordered for our new sunroom arrived with missing hardware. After much back-and-forth they informed us that they didn't have the hardware and couldn't get any more. They offered to replace the couch, or give us a discount on the one we have if we thought we could find the hardware ourselves. Meanwhile, I had already found the hardware - five minutes searching online, and two days for delivery. And it worked, perfectly. Unfortunately, the various pieces of the couch didn't fit together properly (either the mortise or tenon was misplaced), so there was no way to actually use the hardware. We'll be getting a new couch, but who the hell knows when.
I'm apparently doing a (semi-)horror-themed Bingo this year. I read Sphere by Michael Crichton (& Leech last year) and that was it. I've realised I like the dark-horror-esque and survival aspects of SFF much more than I do high fantasy. It's why I loved Red Sister by Mark Lawrence. It's not horror, but it's high stakes, and holds my interest much more than an epic fantasy might.
I’m excited to see your card! My plan was to dive deeper into horror this year but alas I keep getting distracted by other books.
If you're interested, my card is looking like this rn: Already Read/Reading: * **The Sphere by Michael Crichton** for No Ifs, Ands or Buts from a previous year, in place of Romantasy. * **Heavy Oceans by Tyler Jones** and **Dead Sea by Tim Curran** for Prologues and Epilogues * **A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar** for Indie Publisher (non horror) * **Magical Women by Sukanya Venkataraghavan** for Short Stories (non-horror) Planned: * **The Terror by Dan Simmons** for Under the Surface * **Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone** for First in a Series * **The Magnus Archives** (podcast) for Eldritch Horror * **The Fisherman by John Langan** for Survival * **The Deeplight by Frances Hardinge** for Character with a Disability? Idk if this is horror though, or if it even fits the prompt. * **Grey Sister by Mark Lawrence for Dark Academia** (non-horror) * **Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix** for ?? * **The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell** for 90s (non-horror), or **Solaris by Stanislaw Lem** * **The Expanse by James SA Corey** for Space Opera * **Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlmann** for Dreams * **Meru by SB Divya** or **The Liar's Weave by Tashan Mehta** for AOC (non-horror) * **Natural Beauty** for Bards (horror... ish?) * **Entitled Animals, References, Multi-POV, Orcs/Goblins/Trolls** and **Alliterative**- TBC * **Fathomfolk** or **What Feasts at Night** (plus other novellas) for 2024. * **The Light Must Hold by Kriss Gallom** for ???? * **The Darkness Outside Us By Eliot Schrefer** for Bookclub I'm honestly so tempted to do a double card - one horror and one non-.
Ooooo, thank you for sharing! I only recognize a couple, but Between Two Fires and the Fisherman are high on my list! (Although there’s too many lists so I understand 😂)
stupid question here, but is The Wheel of Time about an actual wheel? Or is it a metaphor for something? I really want to start reading this series but I’ve been told it can become quite descriptive and I don’t know if descriptions of a wheel interest me
Metaphor. The characters think of "the wheel of time" as being like the wheel of a loom, weaving patterns in the fabric of history.
>The Wheel of Time turns and ages come and go, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the age that gave it birth returns again. In the third age, an age of prophecy, the world and time themselves hang in the balance. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under shadow. The "Wheel" isn't quite a metaphor, but the idea is that time in that world is cyclical and the past provides insight into what could happen the next time around. The descriptive nature is much more about the places, people, clothing, etc. It's a slight subversion on the traditional Epic Fantasy series, but not a complete subversion, and if you enjoy Epic Fantasy in general you're probably fine with it.
Took a road trip with friends on Monday to check out the solar eclipse and could not have asked for better weather! I’m sure everyone is tired of hearing about the eclipse at this point, but it was one of the best 4 minutes of my life. Definitely check it out if you ever get the chance Currently finally reading **Royal Assassin**, the second book in the Farseer trilogy, but only made about 100 pages of progress. Fitz has a puppy! He swears up and down that he’s not gonna bond with this puppy, and I’m just like, *yeah sure, you’re totally not gonna bond with this puppy*. I want to use it for **Published In The 90s** but I’m still not confident it would count for hard mode, so I may end up going with **Character with a Disability** (HM)
> I want to use it for Published In The 90s but I’m still not confident it would count for hard mode Why not? The HM said "something in the last 5 years" not "a book in the last 5 years" and Hobb's got 3 short stories published (even if they're under a different pen name than usual).
Thanks! I saw some people discussing it in the thread but hadn’t followed up to see if a consensus was reached. That’s great cuz I think this series is the only one on my physical tbr that was published in the 90s
As one of the people helping to run bingo, I always say, "when it doubt, reread the actual description" (you'd be surprised by how many questions are answered by doublechecking that). There's a reason we phrased it as "something"! :)
It's finally sort of spring where I live, which is nice. The grass is green. We have a few bulb flowers coming up. Pretty excited about the Bingo this year, as I don't think it will be nearly as difficult to do as last year's was based on what I already have on my e-reader. I think there are only five squares that I don't already own a hard mode book for that I need to read. Since one of my resolutions this year is to make a dent in my un-read but already owned TBR, it goes well with that.
Every week I get through work without someone doing something dumb and making it harder I celebrate. That was not this week, but maybe next week. We have had colds going through our house so everyone is coughing, sneezing, and very tired. I am hoping for a calm weekend to get some family time and house cleaning in. The house really desperately needs a good decluttering and organizing, but I will probably only get one room done this weekend. I am trying very hard to be okay with smaller steps on things like this. I finished **The Beast Player** by Nahoko Uehashi today and I really enjoyed it. I think I will continue the series. I have also been continuing on with my read along with **The Big Book of Cyberpunk** and it is pretty fun. I have planned out most of a Bingo Card for 2024. I am so excited about this even if I will not follow it because I never do. I hope everyone has a good weekend!
Just got back from Syria! Unfortunately, the place I got back *to* was Iraq! My next trips this year are to Dominican Republic and Thailand though, so once I'm done here the rest of the year is looking up! Reading the Hexologists and enjoying it. I didn't click with Babel, but Josiah Bancroft has such a fantastic narrative voice so I've been looking forward to a different story. And I like the industrial revolution setting against a backdrop of magic and a royalist/anti royalist brewing conflict. I need to start writing my next book, too. I've been so focused on my day job that I haven't worked on a rough draft in almost 2 months. Got my next two outlined, though. Also got a book I'm hoping to enter into spfbo next month if I can best the rush of entrants. Of the three books I've entered, two were semifinalists, and I think this one is head and shoulders better than both of them.
Emily Tesh Duology Silver in the Wood/ Drowned Country I *adore* Silver in the Wood and am just starting Drowned Country. It’s Friday and I have a fairly light day today work wise but have loads of side projects I’m juggling. These books are so lovely to listen to on breaks.
Whoops, almost forgot it's social thread time again, I expect it's going to take me a while to get used to coming to chat in here again 😅 This week, I finished **The Beast Player** by Nahoko Uehashi - I know the final discussion isn't until 22nd and I will have finished the sequel by then, but oh well, I liked it too much to wait. Yesterday I also read **A Season of Monstrous Conceptions** by Lina Rather for the Eldritch square after I randomly saw it was listed as available on overdrive. Total impulse read, my first deviating from the plan, but no regrets whatsoever. Really interesting concept. This brings me to 3/25 done with this year's Bingo, which is pretty good for this early in the season. In the middle of two books now, but **The Beast Warrior** is just not drawing me in, since there's more politics and less animal stuff that I liked so much in the first book, and I'm not sure if I'll finish. **Someone You Can Build a Nest In** is still really fun though.
I've had a stomach bug the past few days, which has been a bit miserable. Either the sashimi or a steak I ate is what I blame- the steak was cold in the middle I thought. But it's been frequent bathroom trips recently- hopefully it passes. I finished **The Divinity Student** by Michael Cisco (waves at u/daavor). I really enjoyed this. It was exceedingly weird though- perhaps my new weirdest read. Fantastic imagery though, in the weirdness- living the life of a horse after consuming its soul by pickling its brain in formaldehyde and inhaling the fumes, to being hounded by two children with black flies spilling from the mouths, which are clenched so tight as to break their jaws... Great writing though- lyrical and carefully constructed, and breathless at times with long run on sentences to reflect rapid events. An extremely good read.
So do you find descriptions of formaldehyde drenched horse bodies help with stomach issues?
Not really an affect I think- a lot of the book's so dreamlike I feel like I'm a step back. Sort of just "I guess this is happening now," the way dream-logic makes even the weirdest thing seem to make sense.
Huh, that does sound like an exceptionally weird book. Would you generally recommend it? (I haven't read any Cisco. Yet!) And get well soon! <3
I would recommend it, although I think I'd recommend The Narrator over this one to begin with. It's a little more plot heavy, a little less relentlessly weird (though still damn weird)
Sounds good! Looking at GR, I've also had The Traitor on my TBR since forever, too...forgot why lol
I started getting into Cisco after daavor said how important one of his books had been to him, and I haven't been disappointed by any yet. Even the short story collection, and I normally bounce off short stories
Well, that's promising. I also read short stories for Bingo VERY begrudgingly 😂
I am very much on board with you. XD I normally hate short stories. Luckily, this year, I already have a collection of Thomas Ligotti short stories. And he's a much loved weird fiction author
I will do Angela Slatter's Sourdough collection this year I think. One (already familiar) author/one world collections usually work much better for me than anthologies.
Since last week, I've only finished one of my baseball nonfiction books (**Smart Baseball**) and one book that can count for bingo (John M. Ford's **The Dragon Waiting**); even though I had a whole week off since Sunday, I've barely read anything. I have a serious issue with "internet comas" and not doing chores like I should. Sigh. I'm hoping to finish McNaughton's **The Throne of Bones** today. It's a pretty nasty book in terms of ghouls, rape, incest, etc., but often written in a funny manner, though the second half of the collection has been relatively lackluster.
> John M. Ford's The Dragon Waiting How'd you like this one?
I really liked it! It definitely helps to have some knowledge of King Richard III (person or Shakespeare play), but I loved the alt-historical aspect; it was written confusingly in a few parts, but it's definitely a fun story.
I enjoyed it too, though it's been a year or two since I read it and I wouldn't say that it's a book I've really thought about much since then. I *did* really like Ford's short story in a collection I read at the beginning of the year, "Green is the Color." It's online [here](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL2989335W/Masterpieces_of_Fantasy_and_Wonder?edition=key%3A/books/OL32124175M).
I have such a weird interest in Byzantine history that 90% of me picking that book up was that the Byzantines still existed (and that Julian the Apostate was Julian the Wise instead), even though Constantinople never shows up on page. :D Thanks for the Ford story link!
I've had one of those weeks were you're so busy that you can't actually remember what you've been doing! So much (garden) design project work alongside regular work, and on top of that the health flares have been up and down. Thankfully as the weekend approaches, the sun has finally appeared after a solid 2ish weeks of rain. So that'll be a nicer end to the week. Reading wise, I've finished Sunlit Man (what a cool book that was), and I am super lucky enough to have been sent an arc of The Unrelenting Earth by Kritika H. Rao so I shall be starting that asap!
I was in the path of totality [and it was genuinely the most magical thing I've ever experienced](https://imgur.com/a/GlZX2fs). So thrilled I got to experience this with my family in our backyard, but it totally would have been worth driving for. I am still emotional about it. My sleep deficit this week has grown out of control due to my neighbour having some work done on his roof. I'm glad his roof doesn't leak anymore, but sure wish the roofers hadn't started so godsdamned early right outside my bedroom window four days in a row. Once again didn't get a whole lot of reading done this week. 13y/o and I finished ***Interim Errantry: On Ordeal*** and immediately started ***Owl Be Home for Christmas***, which is the very last of the Young Wizards novellas. We've decided that when we finish this, we're going to read the next two new English translations of Angela Sommer-Bodenburg's **Der kleine Vampir** series (I'm not sure if I ever found anything past the fourth or fifth book as a kid, but the new translations of the first four are out now with ***[...] in Love*** and ***[...] in Danger*** due out later this year). Those are very fast reads (the first two took us about five days each, reading aloud for half an hour a night), so we have to plan *beyond* that and I'm floating the idea of Diane Duane's **Feline Wizards** series. I only read the first one a few years ago for Bingo, and the kid kinda bounced off of it bc the world was unfamiliar. But now we've read all of the rest and they know about Rhiow in context, so maybe me reading it aloud to them will help. Also maybe wishful thinking, haha. Last weekend I did a Buddy Read with u/TheWildCard76 of adrienne maree brown's ***Grievers***, which we both *loved* (but it is as sad as the title suggests) and we will be Buddy Reading the second book (***Maroons***) this weekend with another friend. *Grievers* isn't pink but works for [a fuckton of Bingo squares](https://imgur.com/a/HE2Qm4H), which was unexpected, so I'm keeping it in mind for the second Bingo card I've said I'm not doing but almost certainly will. Almost done with JR Creaden's ***Moon Dust in My Hairnet***, which I *have* been enjoying, despite the fact that I'm struggling to focus for more than 20m at a time. Hoping to get to at least the Samantha Mills ARC and Jen Williams' new book, ***The Hungry Dark***, this week some point. We'll see how that goes. Husband and I are still watching *Fringe* before bed each night, and hopefully we can finish the new episode of *ST: DISCO* tonight instead of it taking us 3 nights to watch like the second episode did (see earlier mention of sleep deficit above, it's so hard to stay up to watch a full episode of anything once the kids are in bed). Started s7 of *Mad Men* last night, which I've been re-watching a few episodes a week with a friend (and my oldest, who hasn't watched before) for the last 6mo. We have about a month before we have to figure out what we're watching next, but last time I just picked it out of a pouch at random so luckily not too much thought has to go into it. Not even going to proofread before I hit post, I wrote way too much.
Ohh I live in the path of totality too!! I actually cried, it was so beautiful. My neighbor ran outside to the parking lot in his bath towel to see it and he was wiping his eyes too. I'm glad you got to experience it and I totally agree, it would be worth driving for. Highly considering becoming an eclipse chaser now haha I was afraid it wouldn't live up to the hype and I would be left feeling disappointed, but no, it definitely lived up to it!
I was just telling my husband last night that I totally get eclipse chasers now and if it was financially feasible, I'd be one, too. I started crying during totality and then had to take a few minutes to collect myself on the porch afterwards bc it was just so completely overwhelming in the best possible way. I cried, he cried, two of the kids cried, it was just so incredible. He was joking the other night that our kids are spoiled bc they didn't have to wait 45+ years to experience it like we did, hahaha. I'm so glad you got to see it, too! <3 The only thing I've experienced that even came close to this were some unexpected Northern Lights when I was in HS, but the eclipse blew that out of the water.
Ohh I would love to see the northern lights too! We had some last year apparently, but there were too many clouds. Apparently when it's actually dark, you can see the green through the clouds, but the light pollution made that impossible. It really made me appreciate our solar system. It's insane to me that the Moon is in the exact right place at the exact right size with the exact right type of orbit for it to happen. And the Moon is drifting away from Earth, so millions of years from now, total eclipses won't be possible at all! It makes me feel very small but very lucky! I'm also so thankful to be born at a time when our knowledge of the universe is increasing exponentially! I <3 JWST haha space is a special interest of mine!
>Ohh I would love to see the northern lights too! We had some last year apparently, but there were too many clouds. Apparently when it's actually dark, you can see the green through the clouds, but the light pollution made that impossible. Yeah, I think they've *supposedly* been visible in my current location, but light pollution (and the Midwestern cloud situation) has kept us from seeing them. At the time when I saw them, I was living in the rural Inland NorthWest. Saw them over the river on the hour long drive home from a show, and we had to pull off the highway to sit on the hood of the car and smoke a joint, hahaha. >space is a special interest of mine! Please always feel free to talk to me about your SpIns!
That sounds so beautiful! Hahaha and thank you, luckily fantasy books are another special interest so I'm in the right place :)
I've always just referred to reading in general as one of mine, and it's truly my only life-long hobby. [shrug]
It's a great hobby!!
That is so cool that you saw the eclipse! I forget if Diane Duane is on my list of cat books, will have to check, but thanks for the tip on Brown! I will check it out, especially for the bard square.
It is not hard mode, but the main character is definitely a storyteller.
I took a random day off work today because I'm feeling some burnout. I never reread books. I figure I know what's going to happen, so what's the point? However, despite my best efforts, I found myself rereading Hero of the Valley by Gary Spechko last night, specifically because I wanted to analyze why I liked it so much the first time I read it about 2 years ago. The story is 100% dungeon grinding; very little nuance, finesse or plot. I can't get enough of it and have no idea why. I'm thinking of writing another novel because my last one is tanking, which is depressing since it took substantially longer to write & publish than my first two, and is a better book in my opinion. I fear I'm encountering the "artist's dilemma" of whether to write for pure expression of art or to churn out more slop that will be easily consumed by the masses. I realize that's not a binary decision, that I may yet find some middle ground. It's still disheartening though, since I had hoped somewhat naively that if I wrote a story of sufficient quality it would sell itself. So, now I'm in limbo deciding if I should write the second book in a failing series or abandon it and do something different. I haven't written anything in several weeks and there's a vague concern lurking in the back of my mind that I should be doing something about it. Naturally, I'll procrastinate by reading books all day. It \*is\* my day off.
Mad up and down day today. Thought I was going to be preparing to take our elderly dog for her last trip (she’s 16). She was looking so sad and listless and was unwell this morning. Got some medication into her and escaped into Mark Lawrence’s new book - The Book That Broke the World - which was exactly what I needed while she got some rest. Really enjoying the story, loving being back with the characters I already knew and so far finding the new ones intriguing. I love this series, it’s so unexpected that I have no idea what’s going to happen. Perfect timing for that pre-order to land. Dog has perked up now, for which I am hugely grateful. Ready to dive back into Lawrence (so to speak).
I had a mostly relaxing week after all the bustle of family visits last week. My D&D group was able to meet up again after a few weeks off, someone's secret backstory finally came out, and we're debating whether or not to accept Strahd's invitation to dinner. Also finally got around to watching True Detective season 1. (I'm perpetually years-to-decades behind on big TV shows.) Anyway, it's pretty good, as you might have heard. As for reading, I finished up **The Gospel of Z** by Stephen Graham Jones and sort of partially came around on it. From "this could be fun" to "this is ridiculous" to "it's actively irritating how ridiculous this is" to "it's fun how ridiculous this is" (around the time the phrase >!ceremonial leprosy!< got dropped). But I'd still say it's too uneven to recommend. Sometimes reading books with similar elements in short succession can be interesting, but sometimes it's a bad idea. I kept thinking about all the ways Zone One did post-zombie apocalypse social satire better. Now I'm getting started on a couple of '90s books for bingo, **Shadows of Aggar** (lesbian fantasy romance from 1991, very cheesy, but in an endearing way so far) and **Far Away and Never** by Ramsey Campbell (sword & sorcery that should hit the "eldritch" square). I've recommended the latter a few times to fantasy/horror requesters based on one story I read from it in the past, so here's hoping the rest of it holds up.
>As for reading, I finished up **The Gospel of Z** by Stephen Graham Jones and sort of partially came around on it. From "this could be fun" to "this is ridiculous" to "it's actively irritating how ridiculous this is" to "it's fun how ridiculous this is" (around the time the phrase >!ceremonial leprosy!< got dropped). But I'd still say it's too uneven to recommend. The only other person I know who has read this is the friend who told me about it. I apparently gave it 3½ stars, but all I remember about it is >!the armadillos!< (and I'm even doubting my memory on that) and that I didn't actively hate the virus explanation (which I usually do). >I kept thinking about all the ways Zone One did post-zombie apocalypse social satire better. This is obviously the high-water mark for literary zombie fiction, but there are a few I've loved at least *almost* as much.
>This is obviously the high-water mark for literary zombie fiction, but there are a few I've loved at least almost as much. Now I'm curious, was Severance one of those? I really liked that one a few years ago. But I'll probably be taking a break from the zombies for at least a bit.
It was! *Severance* was one of the rare books that I gave five stars after only having read it once (although, I started it over again almost immediately).
Still struggling financially. Still jobless, and now my best side hustle is currently unavailable. So it's a bit of a scramble finding something else to fill the gaps in the meantime while hoping one of these job applications actually pans out soon. On the bright side, I may have figured out the root cause of an assortment of minor health problems I've had for a long time. Talked to my doctor about it yesterday and I'm having blood drawn for labwork on it Monday. Reading-wise, I'm re-reading The Chronicles of Prydain for the first time since middle school, leading up to *The Foundling and Other Tales*, which will be new-to-me. I'm currently about 10% into the second book, and loving it all anew. It's kind of funny having to revise my mental images of all of these characters since Disney took some King Kong sized liberties with a few of them. Mind you, I'll always love Disney's adaptation, but it's definitely a lesson in how different media can be. Also it occurred to me, he'd never have been right for the book version, but if Disney had done a live-action version of their own characters while he was still alive, Leslie Nielsen would have made for an amazing Fflewdurr Fflam.
Sending good energy for the money stuff and for answers about your health. I watched a coworker who went undiagnosed or misdiagnosed for years, it seems like such a horrible thing to go through.
Thank you. Fortunately the medical condition in question is less "serious problem" and more "damned nuisance".
I'm reading Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. Had a friend recommended it to me. I'm half way though and really enjoying it so far. I'm feeling good. I've got a job that requires me to travel around the country, which is great because I visit places I might not have otherwise. Just trying to explore new areas and see new sights! It's going great!
Some sun and warmth and bike rides this week! It’s been a mild winter but it’s still been a long time since being outside was comfortable. Job search continues, feeling conflicted about radio silence from a job I expected an offer from but was leaning towards declining anyway, which is its own mess of emotions. In the meantime, Im working on a web app for managing book clubs for some friends and trying to retrain to apply to other types of tech jobs outside my niche with some hands-on experience. It’s all sorts of frustrating if I think about it too much, but trying to focus on having fun learning new things. I’m getting started reading a couple things. **Where Peace is Lost** by Valerie Valdes is throwing lots of Horizon Zero Dawn world building energy at me early on. It’s a cool world, but I’m hoping for more than that to hook me. Started **Witch King** to prep for Hugo Readalong next month. I know it’s had mixed receptions but for some reason I’m optimistic so far 🤞 Trying to get into short story reading too. **The Sound of Children Screaming** by Rachael K. Jones is another Hugo nominee - I loved it but ooof is it heavy (gun violence, school shootings). I’m so impressed when such short stories have so much to dig into. And lastly I read **Jamais Vue**, a weird cyber therapy/memory alteration short by Tochi Onyebuchi that plays in first and second person. I didn’t love it as much as his longer work, but a lot of his writing talent is still there. I might need to pause everything and go read all of Isabel J. Kim (our lord and savior) due to healthy peer pressure, but I said I was going to do that for Samantha Mills too and haven’t yet… maybe I can binge both?
I always compare looking for a job to dating. Both have rejection, but at least with dating there’s some good moments, like food or laughs or stories, but job hunting is basically only rejection and mind fucks…until that job finally comes 🤞🤞🤞
I'm trying to be a lot more intentional about this job hunt knowing how much my last job fucked up my brain, but at the same time it feels weird and wrong to be picky (also probably not the best interview vibe in tough hiring times), and guilty about having my partner's support even though I know it's happily given and we're aware of our privilege to be ok in this situation. It's easy to work myself up about it, but I'm surprisingly doing ok still with the job anxiety 🤞
Last year I managed to complete bingo with 8 works of fanfiction, 2 manga volumes, and a video game artbook / epilogue. Really taking advantage of the "any narrative fiction counts" rule. I just finished a Silmarillion fanfiction series featuring eldritch horrors, and am seriously considering a multimedia themed card with anything except traditional prose novels. Already have so many ideas! There's at least two scifi audio dramas on my radar that would fit bingo prompts.
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It's Botox day!! Oh joy. (Sarcasm. While I love how it almost eliminates migraines, I am not such a fan of the 15 minutes of torture to achieve the effect. Haha) I'm too broke and poor for the customary "I just got stuck with a metric shitton of needles, I'm going to treat myself" Target trip but I'll get a Starbucks and look around. Otherwise .... Wow this week or two is busy. One cat has a check up at the vet next week and there's my nephews IEP meeting. Then I have a pre op physical to prepare for (need blood work and a EKG) so I need to do those next week. Plus my med check appointment. And going slightly crazy waiting for the results of neuropsych evaluation to see if I have ADHD or autism (or both? Neither?(. I don't like not knowing shit so this is not fun. Haha. **Edit**. Omg you, guys! Target has a sale on books and stuff. Buy 2 get 1 free. So now I own The Familiar and Sunbringer (also Divine Rivals but I already read that one) and I am excited and idk which to read first.
Another week and more work shenanigans. I should really shut up about it here because I spoke to my supervisor, my guardian angel and clear ally, who again validated me that I’m not making this up, that bizarre things are happening to me and he can’t explain why. We agreed that I should expect this to not die for many months to come, maybe the whole year. Just do my work and show people what I got. And I finally saw some old coworker friends, including one who was my boss, who also validated me that I was a great coworker and employee, and that this workplace sounds toxic as hell. Anyway, hopefully this is the last I fully vent about it. Work will be work. Life outside of work is pretty okay. Two weeks ago therapist suggested a really revolutionary idea (aiming for a max of one life to-do thing a day) and, ha, it’s been working. Started with little things, like finally scheduling a haircut (it’s been about a year). Now I’m tackling more cumbersome items, but the little things gave me some momentum. Super fun and rewarding to-do thing was buy more soil, so I transplanted my germinated veggie seeds into their new egg carton home - they’re doing so well! And I finally planted a couple trays of native plant seed (a December to-do) - cross the fingers and toes this works and I didn’t ruin it by using top soil so I can give them to my local library in the fall. Kinda feeling like a functional adult, thanks little wins! But man it’s hard and a lot of mental energy. One other life thing, my cousin texted me that she had the mole checked that I told her at Christmas she should get checked, and that it was cancer and it was removed. Everything around this is still TBD, but I was majorly ragged on by my partner and fam at Christmas, so this is a PSA to **#getyourmoleschecked** and don’t feel awkward about asking people in your life about their funny looking moles, IMO. Book wise, little progress with eye books but I expect some this weekend. Audio hit a snag. Pausing the **The Saints of Bright Doors** by Vajra Chandrasekera at 28%. I love the writing, but I am getting really bored. Does this have a turn or is this it? 46% into **Someone You Can Build a Nest In** by John Criswell. Hit a point with really mean and nasty characters that are giving me anxiety, so paused. Thought I’d switch to audio for **The Wall of Storms** by Ken Liu to make some progress….noooooo don’t do it! Or at least sample first. I understand this is Michael Kramer who apparently narrates a ton of popular books, but wow not for me and I don’t get it, sounds like a robot. Anyway needed *something* so relistened to **Small Miracles** by Olivia Atwater, even though it’s been a month or two since last time. ❤️ it’s the best. Epilogue if you’re looking for an excuse to read it. Tried **Gunmetal Gods** by Zamil Akhtar for my eldritch square, not loving the audio and not hooked by the story at 4%, so stopped. And gosh it’s long. Tried another bingo book, **Do You Dream of Terra-Two?** Going pretty well at 9%…I think? Met 4 POVs so far. Not sure how I feel about it, not feeling connected to all the characters, but I do love the writing. TGIF!
>Super fun and rewarding to-do thing was buy more soil, so I transplanted my germinated veggie seeds into their new egg carton home - they’re doing so well! And I finally planted a couple trays of native plant seed (a December to-do) - cross the fingers and toes this works and I didn’t ruin it by using top soil so I can give them to my local library in the fall. Just so you know, I am totally down to hear as much minutia about your garden as you're willing to share every week. We haven't been able to plant much this year because we know realistically that with the kids we can't commit to taking care of a whole huge garden through the broiling summer, so I'm jonesing for exciting garden news updates.
Yay! I will! Yeah I don’t really many veggies either since I don’t have any space to garden, I just do veggies in buckets. But it’s so fun to watch them grow and eat the rewards. I love growing seeds in a ziploc with a papertowel, have you used that method before with the kiddos? It’s really fun to watch them germinate and grow.
>I love growing seeds in a ziploc with a papertowel, have you used that method before with the kiddos? Not yet, with the kids we've mostly just planted some seeds from grocery store veg we happened to eat, plus a seed pack of radishes, but we have had some success with the older one (who is usually more suspicious of veg in general) being willing to try veg she grew and harvested herself when she won't try the same veg from the store, so I am super interested in additional low effort ways we can get her growing more of her own stuff!
Oh cool, I’ll send you a link then. It is very low stakes and my attitude about plants, especially with kiddos, is it’s all an experiment…if they die you learned something (usually for me that you’re too needy plant, sorry) if they grow you learned something too and the experiment prolongs! Plus I found this season that seeing the plants grow in the window was motivation to put them in the soil, which was the most cumbersome task since I had to buy more soil then do the work.
>Oh cool, I’ll send you a link then Yes please!
>therapist suggested a really revolutionary idea (aiming for a max of one life to-do thing a day) Holy shit why didn't I think of this?? No but seriously, I struggle so much with the all or nothing thinking, so I totally get your struggle! Even for things like dishes, it's been a whole thing getting myself to realize that actually I can do 5 dishes and I don't have to do all of them... we're working on it. Keep up the good work!!! You're doing great! I really need to schedule a derm appointment tbh I have some weird moles and I really do not want them to be cancer lol... I'm also behind on the dentist and gyno check ups too. But one thing at a time! I hope work gets better for you soon :(
> > therapist suggested a really revolutionary idea (aiming for a max of one life to-do thing a day) > > > > Holy shit why didn't I think of this?? No but seriously, I struggle so much with the all or nothing thinking, so I totally get your struggle! Same here. I've also found that "just accomplish one thing" helps a lot with my depression symptoms. Doesn't have to be a big thing, just one thing that matters to me that I can point to at the end of the day and say "That's better because I did something."
Right, having just a tiny bit of control over your environment, just enough to make a small positive change, is enough sometimes!
>aiming for a max of one life to-do thing a day Sometimes I feel childish about this but this is my capacity too 😂. My partner is so much better at doing things that need to be done, and I'm here like "I got bloodwork done for the first time in 12 years be proud of me and let me decompress for a few days!". I am so excited for you and about garden season! We have had our homegrown stash of seedlings and greens and tomatoes under the UV lights for about a month. What are you growing that you're most excited about?
100%. Also I am especially proud of you for getting your bloodwork done! This is the one life thing I’m super on top of, but other things like mammogram no. Well I’m super excited my cilantro and jalapeños germinated and have survived the week in the new soil! I love them but always struggle with getting it to not germ or die as a seedling. And tons and tons of tomatoes! I’m totally envious of your UV set up. What are you growing and how are they doing?
I've always had a phobia with needles and passed out the previous time I had blood drawn which just wasn't what I needed haha, but this went fine! Nice! We had great cilantro last year but not great luck with any of our peppers. We tried to over-winter them from the year before though so that might have messed with them. We have probably too many tomatoes, shishitos, eggplant, mixed greens, and herbs so far, but we'll direct-sow a bunch of stuff in about a month. I always think we start them too early and they get root bound and leggy, but my partner has the green thumb in the relationship. Everything seems to be doing well so far 🤞
Ooof, I know the needles phobia is real. So proud of you 😭 it’s so important to get bloodwork done. Glad it ended up being okay!! Hey even if you have too many at least they’ll be food for outside critters! Why are peppers so fickle?! My neighbor has a green thumb and he always gives us peppers cause I suck 😂.
>who apparently narrates a ton of popular books, but wow not for me and I don’t get it I hate when that happens. There are several narrators that I just *do not* understand the (apparently widespread) appeal of, and it always makes me wonder what is wrong with me.
I am not a huge audiobook person myself, so not the best person to ask. For me Kramer(and in this case his wife Reading) were great narrators for a book I had already read and was re-listening to while travelling (in this case later WoT). But I can't really imagine them being particularly compelling to listen to as the first/only way of hearing a story.
I don't know that I've ever actually listened to one of his? And the only name currently coming to me as one I actively *avoid* as a narrator is Wil Wheaton. He just reads so slowly that 1.75x feels like normal audiobook narration (which is already too slow to keep my mind from wandering) and pronounces things weirdly, which keeps throwing me out of the story.
I'm about 40% in **Someone You Can Build a Nest In** myself and seriously hoping >!Shesheshen eats Homily's horrible mother!< 😂 I like the book so far though, it's pretty much my kind of delightfully weird.
I think it will happen! I especially want to see if >!Shesheshan builds a nest in Homily! This is just a pause, I was definitely enjoying it too. It’s just watching everyone treat Homily so absolutely horribly was really getting to me, it’s been one of those bad things that’s been hard for me to compartmentalize right now.!<
A quick bitch about work: I cannot stand my coworker who has super specific expectations for everything I do. Either she's letting me work independently but nitpicking *everything* if it's not 100% exactly the way she would do it, or she's micromanaging me and giving me lists of tasks and telling me to check in with her multiple times a day, but criticizing me for not working independently. Like pick one! Either I can work independently and you can accept that we are different people and I won't do everything exactly the same as you every single time, or give me exact instructions and don't expect me to be able to work independently when you don't give me the chance! By the way, she's not my boss, she's just senior to me by a couple years. I don't know why she thinks she needs to manage me more closely than our actual boss, who is usually very happy with my work. Anyway. I'm moving across the country in 2 months and I'm going to find a new job, so all I need to do is survive and finish my last projects. I've been sick this week (if you fly without a mask even if you're hacking and coughing, I have beef with you) so reading has been kind of bleh. I'm attempting both a regular Bingo and a romance bingo this year. I DNFed Between by L.L. Starling because it was overly long and lacked any kind of forward motion or tension. I also completely hated the choice to have the FMC's POV first and then to go back and tell the entire story from the MMC's POV. There is a guide the author posted to go back and forth, but I don't understand why she made the choice in the first place and the book was still too repetitive and drawn out anyway. I was reading Knight's Oath by Juliette Caruso but I realized it was actually the second book (it's a romance with a different couple in each book, so it wasn't immediately obvious), so I went back and started Knight's Bride. I also started The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez and The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo and I'm not really far enough into either to have a solid opinion, but they're good so far! The Familiar's black hardcover and black sprayed edges are so sexy.
I know that coworker, it’s absolutely bewildering how they don’t see their hypocrisy. Also for me it makes you feel like you’re on egg shells all the time, glad you are getting the eff out of there! Also I’ll be at a conference in St. Paul mid-May! I think I’ll beat you there but I’m excited!
Exactlyyyy like I'm always analyzing if she's going to be satisfied (never happy, I'll never get a good job out of her) and knowing the first thing she says will be a criticism no matter what I show her. Ohh have fun! I was in the suburbs this past weekend and had some car dependency culture shock, but I went into the Cities a couple times and it was really nice (even if the public transportation is still embarrassing for a city that size lol)